CPEC projects advance Chinese interests in the region as all jobs go to Chinese. It will bring in settlers from Pakistan and change the local religious and ethnic demography in coming years.
Senge Hasnan Sering
While Pakistan’s mainstream media remains largely preoccupied with political non-issues, a lot of worth-reporting events are taking place in Pakistani hinterlands. While issues – and non-issues — of people in Pakistani urban centers get a lot of attention, more than 90 percent of Pakistan’s real issues go unnoticed in the Pakistani mainstream media. A small gathering of political parties like Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf or Muslim League may get coverage on the first pages of the national newspapers and prime time TV talk shows, protests by tens of thousands in Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, non-urban Sindh or Pakistani-administered Kashmir/Gilgit-Baltistan. Issues of non-urban Punjab and under-privileged classes in urban areas of Pakistan also go unnoticed. Senge Hasnan Sering recently spoke to Shafqat Ali Inqalabi on some of the issues that agitate the people of Gilgit-Baltistan. Mr. Inqalabi belongs to a prominent political family in District Ghizer of Gilgit-Baltistan. He is an author, political commentator and social activist. He regularly appears on local visual media outlets to discuss geostrategic issues. He has served his community as Chairperson of Karakoram Students Federation and spokesperson of Balawaristan National Front. The interview shows how alienated the people of Gilgit-Baltistan feel under the current socio-political system.
Q — Gilgit-Baltistan is prone to continuous earthquakes because of tectonic movements. Despite this, the Pakistani government is building Diamer and Bunji dams. How would the dams change the demography of the area? How big is the land rights movement in Gilgit-Baltistan?
A –We must go back to history to understand this. Pakistani governments spent decades trying to build Kalabagh Dam, but the initiative failed due to opposition from Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This failure of consensus led to the decision to construct Bunji (7000MW) and Diamer Bhasha Dams (4500MW). This was made possible because Gilgit-Baltistan has no veto membership in the Council of Common Interests (CCI). Building a dam in a disputed area like Gilgit Baltistan is a violation of international norms, and tampers with the commitment which Pakistan made with the United Nations on Kashmir. The nationalists in Gilgit Baltistan ran a campaign against these dams. There have been protests against the construction of big dams on our land. Pakistani forces crushed them with heavy use of force. They fired shots at anti-dam protesters killing and injuring many. We tried to raise awareness about the adverse impacts of these dams on the local environment. Diamer Dam on local land, people and environment. More than 110 kilometers of land of Gilgit-Baltistan will be submerged whereas Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would get the royalty and usage compensation. Bhasha valley, where the power generation unit is being built, belongs to Gilgit Baltistan if one follows the Karachi military agreement of 27th July 1949. However, Pakistan annexed it to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after 1960. The dam will destroy our cultural heritage dating back to Sogdian, Scythian and Tibetan eras. Around 50,000 petroglyphs will be submerged. A huge dam in this area would bring adverse climatic changes. Gilgit Baltistan is a barren land with negligible precipitation. Creating a huge lake will intensify landslides and avalanches. The dam is being built along the fault line of Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates. It would not be stable. We face continuous earthquakes and aftershocks due to tectonic movement. Geological instability also reduces the dam’s life. Bunji dam is being built at a place where Karakoram, Himalaya and Hindukush ranges meet and display great geological activity. Villages like Talu, Yulbu, Sabsar and Ganji where repeated earthquakes have forced inhabitants to migrate away are only a few miles from the Bunji dam site.
Q — The people of Gilgit Baltistan have repeatedly alleged that the Pakistani government is snatching their lands without consent and monetary compensation. Is this true? What government departments are involved in illegal land snatching? What are the pretexts and what are their plans?
A — Maharaja of Kashmir had established State Subject Rule (SSR) to safeguard local lands in Gilgit Baltistan and Ladakh. Pakistan occupied Gilgit on November 16, 1947, and the assets of non-Muslims near Garhi Bagh were appropriated. Pakistan started violating SSR in 1954, when General Sikander Mirza became the governor general. Late Zulfiqar Bhutto suspended SSR to appropriate local lands. Now Pakistani military and civilian institutions occupy thousands of acres of land in Jutial, Sakwar, Khomer, Konodas, Chilmish, Makpondas and surrounding areas. Thousands of kanals (one kanal equals 1000 square feet) have also been allotted to religious institutions. Retired military officers and outsiders occupy prime land in the heart of Gilgit and Skardo cities. More than 80% of land has been leased to Chinese and Pakistani companies for mineral exploitation. Many families lost land during the construction of Gilgit and Skardu airports. The third generation of those families are still waiting for financial compensation. Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has encroached on lands in District Ghizer and now occupies parts of Shandur, Handarap and Korambar valleys. In the same way, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has occupied parts of Diamer district including parts of Kandia, Sazin and Lulusar. Thousands of acres of land were appropriated during the construction of Diamer dam without paying compensation to the local owners. The people of Hunza, Gilgit and Nagar districts are still waiting for compensation of land they lost to the upgradation of Karakoram Highway. Locals are being converted into a minority in their own land. The failure of locals to protect their ancestral lands is the biggest threat coming from Pakistan. Zulfiqar Bhutto also gifted thousands of square miles of land in Shaksgam and Raskam to China which originally belonged to Shigar and Hunza. The local people claim the total area of Gilgit Baltistan to be more than 28,000 square miles, but Pakistan has reduced it to close to 25000 sq miles and this number continues to drop with on-going encroachment.
Q: China has planned some projects in Gilgit-Baltistan as part of CPEC. How are these projects affecting the local demography and economy?
A: I do not see any substantial benefits for locals of Gilgit Baltistan from CPEC-related projects. There is a dry port established in Sost, Hunza which safeguards the commercial interests of Pakistan and China, and it is happening at the cost of locals’ interests. China has funded the upgradation of Karakoram Highway from Khujerab to Thalechi. Some energy projects are under consideration. All CPEC related projects advance Chinese interests in the region as all jobs go to Chinese which are threatening the local survival. It will bring in settlers from Pakistan and change the local religious and ethnic demography in coming years.
Senge Hasnan Sering is a political commentator and activist. He comes from Gilgit-Baltistan and currently runs Gilgit Baltistan Institute in Washington DC.
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