WASHINGTON, DC – The people of occupied Gilgit Baltistan have declared February 5th as a day to expose Pakistani hypocrisy and crimes against the people of Gilgit Baltistan and Jammu Kashmir.
Rather than worrying about Kashmir, Pakistan should focus on the needs of its own inhabitants, who are impoverished and unemployed. As we speak, a military-led genocide is taking place in Balochistan province. Its army has driven the destitute residents of Tirah, Pashtunistan, from their homes while their valley is blanketed in snow and freezing rain. Its judiciary has convicted leaders such as Ali Wazir, Manzoor Pashteen, and Mahrang Baloch to prison on bogus charges for demanding fundamental rights and a dignified existence for their communities.
Pakistan has imprisoned leaders such as Shabbir Mayar in his village in Gilgit Baltistan for opposing the exploitation and theft of local resources. The authorities will not allow Babajan to run for office in Gilgit Baltistan since he has spoken out against brazen oppression and imperialism. Pakistan is stealing indigenous natural resources in the name of CPEC and driving our culture and languages to extinction through colonial policies.
Pakistan is forcing the people of Gilgit Baltistan to live without basic constitutional rights. Its law enforcement and army are actively participating in the genocide of local Shias and handing their ancestral lands to Pakistani settlers to reduce the Shia population to a minority.
Instead of apologizing to the people of POJK, who recently buried thirteen loved ones killed by Punjab police and rangers, Pakistani occupiers have the audacity to claim a stake in Indian Kashmir and express solidarity with its people, who, contrary to myths, live as equal Indian citizens with constitutional rights and political representation at all levels.
While the people of POJK lack bare essentials such as food, electricity, medicine, potable water, and sanitation facilities, the Indian Kashmiris benefit from the latest world-class infrastructure and sustained socioeconomic progress. The truth is that the situation in Gilgit Baltistan is so dire that we expect our kin in Indian Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh to assist us in getting rid of Pakistan.
The inhabitants of Gilgit Baltistan agree with Pakistan’s government that Jammu Kashmir remains an unfinished business of partition.
However, Pakistanis forget that it was the British-led partition plan that provided the opportunity to the people of Gilgit Baltistan to become Indian citizens. Pakistan seized that right on the day it invaded and occupied Gilgit Baltistan, converting it into a colony. Since the arrival of Pakistani colonial masters in Gilgit Baltistan, the inhabitants have witnessed nothing but exploitation, misery, and destitution.
This unfinished business would be completed only after Gilgit-Baltistan unites with Ladakh in India. The mistakes of the past will be corrected only after Pakistan withdraws from our territories, ends its unlawful occupation, and returns Gilgit Baltistan to the rightful owner. Locals in POJK hope that the day will come soon when they will be able to live as rightful Indian citizens, with their dignity and honor restored.
At this point, the people of Gilgit Baltistan want to remind the United Nations that, according to the India Independence Act and the UNCIP resolution, Pakistan is the only perpetrator here that has refused to withdraw from seized territories. Pakistan is the only criminal in this conflict, having hijacked Jammu Kashmir and imposed terrorism on its territory and people. Its hands are stained with the blood of Hindu and Sikh Kashmiris. For the past 78 years, it has held citizens of Jammu Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan hostage to its vile expansionist plans and ambitions.
At this juncture, the only solidarity we expect from Pakistan is an immediate departure from our territories and the payment of appropriate compensation to the people of Gilgit Baltistan and POJK for 78 years of exploitation and looting.
Senge Sering
Senge Sering is a native of Pakistan-occupied-Gilgit-Baltistan and runs the Washington DC based Gilgit Baltistan Studies
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