GILGIT-BALTISTAN-CHITRAL GEO-STRATEGIC LOCATION AND THE FUTURE CONSTITUTIONAL STATUS OF THE AREA Posted by Raees Kamil Jan MIR ONUR MOHIUDDIN NOTE: This research paper is not to spread hatred against pashtun brothers or spread division as some people may accuse. Chitral and GB brethren it’s all about our identity and our due rights and our future. Chitral’s identity and future is with GB and not with KP. Chitral is the most backward area in the whole of Pakistan without any doubts. Chitral and GB’s due rights/interests and due status have been blatantly ignored till now, and will continue to be ignored if we do not unite together to ask for them. Chitral must join GB province at all costs to have its proper due representation in the provincial assembly and affairs of GB province with whom we are interlinked historically, culturally, linguistically and ethnically. Who will ever listen to the voice of chitral with only 2% representation in the entire KPK provincial assembly? On the other hand entire GB has no representation at all in the parliament of Pakistan. GB-chitral must be merged together and given the status of a province of Pakistan and proper representation in the parliament of Pakistan. INTRODUCTION Gilgit-Baltistan previously known as the Northern Areas is the northernmost political unit within Pakistan. On its west is the Khyber pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on its north the Wakhan corridor, to the east of it lies china and the Indian occupied Kashmir on its south east. Gilgit-Baltistan covers an area of 72,971 km² and is highly mountainous. Its administrative center is the city of Gilgit. Its population is approximately 2 million according to latest census. The territory became a single administrative unit in 1970 under the name Northern Areas and was created by the merger of the Gilgit Agency, the Baltistan District of Ladakh, and the states of Hunza and Nagar. Gilgit-Baltistan and the neighboring Azad Kashmir together make up the disputed region, referred to as Pakistan-administered Kashmir by the United Nationsand other international organizations, and as Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in India. Chitral is a district in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan that contains the town of Chitral. It has an area of 14,850 km² and a population of around 500000 according to the latest census. It has one of the highest mountains of the world, Tirich Mir. It is the largest district in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa covering an area of 14,850 sq. kilometers. Chitral District is the most northerly district in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, to its the west and north is Afghanistan - in the north the Wakhan Corridor, a narrow strip, which separates Pakistan from Tajikistan. To the east of Chitral is Gilgit-Baltistan and to the south are the districts of Upper Dir and Swat. PRESENT STATUS OF THE AREA Gilgit-Baltistan is administratively divided into two divisions. These two divisions are divided into seven districts, including the two Baltistan districts of Skardu and Ghanche, and the five Gilgit districts of Gilgit, Ghizer, Diamer, Astore, and Hunza-Nagar. On 29 August 2009, the Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order, 2009, were passed by the Pakistani cabinet and soon after signed by the President of Pakistan. The order approved self-rule to the region and renamed it Gilgit-Baltistan from former Northern Areas. An elected legislative assembly has also been created by this order. However the fact of the matter is that GB has been provided no representation in the national assembly or the senate of Pakistan. The status of the area has still been retained disputed by the government of Pakistan. Chitral is a district of the Khyber-pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan and forms the part of the Malakand division. It comes under the provincially administered tribal areas. It has got two seats in the entire provincial assembly of KP and only one seat in the national assembly of Pakistan. It has no representation in the senate of Pakistan. HISTORY GILGIT – BALTISTAN Before the establishment of Princely state of Jammu and Kashmir by the Dogra rulers in the mid – nineteenth century, the Gilgit region had been ruled by princes who were styled “Raas”. The rulers of the adjoining Baltistan region used the Tibetan title of “Gyal-po”. Gilgit and Baltistan, together with their neighbors Hunza, Nagar and Ladakh, became vassals of the Princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, but maintained considerable autonomy. After formation of the Gilgit Agency by the British in 1877, these territories, including the Wazarats of Gilgit and Ladakh, were administered directly by the British; nonetheless the Princely state of Jammu and Kashmir retained sovereignty over them. The local rulers of these territories continued to show up at the Jammu and Kashmir Durbars until 1947. The proceedings of Partition and the following First Kashmir War led to most of the former Gilgit Wazarat becoming part of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, but most of the Ladakh Wazarat, including the Kargil area became part of Indian-administered Kashmir. Initially, the Gilgit Agency was not absorbed into any of the provinces of West Pakistan, but was ruled directly by political agents of the federal government of Pakistan. The termination of the province of West Pakistan in 1970 was accompanied by change of the name of the Gilgit Agency to the Northern Areas. In 1974, the states of Hunza and Nagar and the independent valleys of Darel-Tangir, which had been de facto dependencies of Pakistan, were also integrated into the Northern Areas. Map of Gilgit Baltistan. Map of Gilgit Baltistan GILGIT CITY Gilgit was ruled for centuries by the local Trakhàn Dynasty, which ended about 1810 with the death of Raja Abas, the last Trakhàn Raja. After the death of Abas, Sulaiman Shah, raja of Yasin, conquered Gilgit. Then, Azad Khan, raja of Punial, killed Sulaiman Shah, taking Gilgit; then Tair Shah, raja of Buroshall (Nagar), took Gilgit and killed Azad Khan. Tair Shah’s son Shah Sikandar inherited, only to be killed by Gaur Rahman, raja of Yasin of the Khushwakhte Dynasty, when he took Gilgit. Then in 1842, Shah Sikandar’s brother, Karim Khan, expelled Gaur Rahman with the support of a Sikh army from Kashmir. The Sikh general, Nathu Shah, left garrison troops and Karim Khan ruled until Gilgit was ceded to Gulab Singh of Jammu and Kashmir in 1846 by the Treaty of Amritsar, and Dogra troops replaced the Sikh in Gilgit. Nathu Shah and Karim Khan both transferred their allegiance to Gulab Singh, continuing local administration. When Hunza attacked in 1848, both of them were killed. Gilgit fell to the Hunza and their Yasin and Punial allies, but was soon reconquered by Gulab Singh’s Dogra troops. With the support of Gauhar Rahman, Gilgit’s inhabitants drove their new rulers out in an uprising in 1852. Gaur Rahman then ruled Gilgit until his death in 1860, just before new Dogra forces from Ranbir Singh, son of Gulab Singh, captured the fort and town. The city was briefly held by Mehtar Aman-ul-Mulk of Chitral for a few months in 1876, eventually the Mehtar agreed to leave Gilgit after Maharaja promised to give him an annual subsidy for not attacking the areas beyond punial valley. GHIZER DISTRICT AND THE KHUSHWAQTE DYNASTY Ghizer District is northern/western most part of Gilgit Baltistan. Its capital is Gakuch. Ghizer is also the bridge between Gilgit and Chitral (which are connected via Shandur Pass). Ghizer is a multi ethnic district and three major languages Khowar, Shina and Burushaski are spoken in Ghizer. Ghizer is a distorted form of the name Gherz means (In Khowar or Chitrali) the Refugees. Whenever the Mehtars of Chitral did excessive with their people in Chitral, they forced them to migrate towards Gupis in Ghizer. They were settled in the area between Chitral and Gupis and the area used to be called Gherz and the people were called Gherzic. Historically the region had been ruled by indigenous rajas such as those of Yasin (khushwakte dynasty) and later it was divided between the Mehtar of Chitral and the Maharaja of Kashmir. After 1895 all of Ghizer was annexed to Gilgit Agency which was directly ruled by the British and not by the Kashmir Durbar. The Rajas of Yasin Suleman Shah and Raja Gohar Aman (MID 19TH CENTURY) extended their rule to Gilgit by pushing back Dogras and at some particular phase of history remained de-facto rulers of the region stretching from Yasin to Gilgit. CHITRAL PRINCELY STATE From ancient times, Chitral had an important position on the trade routes from northern Afghanistan to the plains of northern Pakistan and the area near Jalalabad, in eastern Afghanistan. The ruling family of Chitral is descended from Baba Ayub, a devotee of the saint, Kamal Shah Shams ud-din Tabrizi, who settled in the village of Lon and Gokheer in Chitral. Baba Ayub was a son of Fareidun Hussein, tenth son of Shah Abdul Ghazi Sultan Husayn Bayqarah of khorasan, belonging to the Timurid dynasty of khorasan. Baba Ayub arrived in Chitral and married the daughter of the local ruler shah Raees. The grandson of this marriage found the present katur dynasty. Sangin Ali is the patriarch of the ruling dynasty, sometime Minister to Shah Rais, ruler of Chitral during the sixteenth century. His sons seized power following his death in 1570, establishing a new ruling dynasty over the state known as the katur. The period between Sangin ‘Ali’s succession to power and modern times is fogged up by inter-family warfare, contests for power with the former Raisiya dynasty, the Kushwaqte family and nonstop disputes with neighboring rulers to the extent that it is nearly impossible to date the reigns or lives of many of the rulers. After the establishment of stable dogra rule in neighboring Kashmir in the mid 19th century the European travelers and researchers started to enter the area and take interest in the history and culture of the area. So the history of the area is clearer from the mid 19th century onwards. Shah Afzal II, who ruled from the start of the nineteenth century until its middle, fought against the Afghans to support his allies, the rulers of Badakhshan. He also fought against the Dogras and against his Kushwaqte kinsmen. However, he later exchanged sides and concluded treaty relations with the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir. Subsequently becoming an ally of Kashmir, in return for an annual subsidy to pay for troops and the supervision of the Afghan border so that no afghan tribesmen attack towards Kashmir. Aman ul-Mulk, Afzal’s younger son, succeeded in 1857. After a short dispute with Kashmir, in which he laid siege to the dogra garrison at Gilgit and briefly held the Puniyal valley. He raised the siege after inking a new treaty with the Maharaja according to which Maharaja paid him an annual subsidy for not attacking/interfering in the territories under Kashmir darbar. In 1876 Shah Aman-ul-Mulk subjugated the Ghizer Valley and Puniyal and laid siege to the Dogra Garrison of the Maharaja of Kashmir in the Gilgit Fort. During this time the tribes of Darel, Tangir and Kandia and the State of Nagar paid tribute to the Mehtar of Chitral. Shah Aman-ul-Mulk further conquered the Khushwaqt territories of Ghizer, Yasin and Ishkoman in 1880 and thus katur kingdom of Chitral reached its territorial peak. The kohistani tribes of upper Dir and upper Swat paid tribute to the Mehtar of Chitral. The Nuristan province of Afghanistan also paid tribute to the Mehtar till 1895. Great Mehtar Aman ul mulk breathed his last in 1892. Aman ul mulk’s younger son, Afzal ul Mulk, proclaimed himself ruler during the absence of his elder brother who was at the death of his father the governor of yasin. He then proceeded to eliminate several of his brothers, possible contenders to his throne. This initiated a war of succession, which lasted three years. Sher Afzal a younger brother of late Mehtar Aman ul Mulk attacked Chitral in accordance to a carefully hatched plot in Afghanistan and killed Afzal ul Mulk. He held Chitral for under a month, then fled into Afghan territory as the British did not accept him and vowed to support the elder son of Aman ul Mulk as the legitimate heir to the throne of Chitral. Nizam ul-Mulk, Afzal ul-Mulk’s eldest brother and the rightful heir, then succeeded to the throne of Chitral in December of 1892. After the signing of the Durand agreement which delineated the border between Afghanistan and the British Empire, Chitral state lost its possessions in Nuristan (Afghanistan) and the Kunar Valley (Afghanistan) recognized as Afghan territory and ceded to Afghanistan. Within a year in 1894, Nizam ul Mulk was murdered by his younger half brother, Amir Ul-Mulk. Amir ul Mulk was being supported by his sister’s husband, the khan of jandul to occupy the throne. The advance of the Chitral Expedition, a strong military force composed of British and Kashmiri troops which attacked from Gilgit under the command of Colonel Kelly and a much larger force under the command of Maj. General Low from the south, impelled Amir to flee to his patron, the Khan of Jandul. The British had decided to support the interests of Shuja ul-Mulk, the youngest legitimate son of Aman ul-Mulk, and the only one clear from the recent spate of murder and intrigue. A British garrison had to bear a siege of 7 weeks in Chitral fort before being rescued by the Chitral expedition forces. After the siege was raised Shuja ul Mulk was proclaimed as the Mehtar of Chitral by the British forces in 1895. Although Shuja ul-Mulk was now firmly established as ruler, the Kashmiris annexed Yasin, Kush, Ghizer and Ishkoman in 1895. Chitral became a salute state in direct relations with the British in 1911. Mastuj, which also had been removed from the Mehtar’s control in 1895, was restored to him within two years. Shuja ul Mulk remained in power as Mehtar for forty-one years till his death in 1936, during which Chitral enjoyed an unparalleled period of internal peace in its history. He was probably the first ruler of Chitral to journey outside the remote Hindukush region, visiting parts of India and meeting a number of fellow rulers. He supported the British during the Third Afghan War in 1919, during which his sons and the Chitral State Forces served in several actions guarding the border against invasion. The Chitral state was given a subsidy of 200000 rupees and 2000 snider rifles for their services in the third afghan war. Nasir ul-Mulk succeeded his father in 1936. He was the first ruler of Chitral to get a proper modern education and became a poet. He died without a male heir and thus was succeeded by his younger brother Muzafar ul Mulk in 1943. The Chitral state forces and the Mehtar’s bodyguard played an important role for getting territory for Pakistan in the Gilgit-Baltistan region. The Chitral state forces helped the locals of GB to conquer some important strong holds of the Dogra garrisons in GB. Saif Ur Rahman succeeded as the Mehtar in 1948 after his father’s death, in 1948. He was exiled from Chitral by the Government of Pakistan for five years due to tensions with the rulers of the Dir state. Chitral state was governed by an appointed board of administration composed of Chitrali and Pakistani officials in his absence. His plane crashed while returning to resume charge of Chitral in 1954. Saif ul Mulk succeeded his father at the tender age of four. He reigned under a Council of Regency for the next twelve years. The Pakistan government’s authority gradually increased over the state during these 12 years. Although installed as a constitutional ruler when he came of age in 1966, he did not benefit from his new status very long. Chitral was absorbed and fully integrated into the Republic of Pakistan by Yahya Khan in 1969. The official language of the Chitral state was Persian but the general population spoke the Khowar/Chitrali language , which is also spoken in parts of Yasin, Gilgit and upper Swat. STRATEGIC LOCATION AND IMPORTANCE Gilgit-Baltistan borders the Wakhan corridor of Afghanistan to the northwest. China’s Autonomous Region of Sinkiang lies to its northeast. To the south and southeast is Indian occupied Kashmir. On its west lies the KP province of Pakistan. Chitral is the district of KP that meets Ghizer district of Gilgit-Baltistan in the west. Gilgit-Baltistan is abode to five of the “eight-thousanders“. There are more than fifty peaks above 7000 meters in the region. Gilgit and Skardu are the two main focal points for expeditions to these mountains. The region is home to some of the world’s highest mountain ranges—the main ranges are the Karakoram and the western Himalayas. The Pamir mountains are to the north, and the Hindu Kush lies to the west. Amongst the highest mountains are K2 and Nanga Parbat, the second being one of the most feared mountains in the world. Three of the world’s longest glaciers outside the Polar Regions are found in Gilgit-Baltistan — the Biafo Glacier, the Baltoro Glacier, and the Batura Glacier. The Biafo Glacier is a 63 km long glacier in the Karakoram Mountains of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan which meets the 49 km long Hispar Glacier at an altitude of 5,128 m (16,824 ft) at Hispar La (Pass) to create the world’s longest glacial system outside the polar regions. This highway of ice connects two ancient mountain kingdoms, Nagar (immediately south of Hunza) in the west with Baltistan in the east. The Baltoro Glacier is 62 kilometers long and is one of the longest glaciers outside the Polar Regions. It is located in Baltistan, in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan, and runs through the Karakoram mountain range. K2 is the highest mountain in the region. The glacier gives rise to the Shigar River, which is one of the main tributaries of the Indus River. Several large tributary glaciers feed the main Baltoro glacier, including the Godwin Austen Glacier, flowing south from K2. Batura Glacier (57 km long) is one of the largest and longest glaciers outside the Polar Regions. It lies in the Gojal region of Gilgit-Baltistan. The Deosai Plains, are situated above the tree line, and comprise the second-highest plateau in the world at 4,115 meters (14,500 feet) after Tibet. The plateau lies east of Astore, south of Skardu and west of Ladakh. The area was declared as a national park in 1993. The Deosai Plains have an area of almost 5,000 square kilometers. The village of Deosai lies close to Chillum chokki and is connected with the Kargil district of Ladakh through an all-weather road. Chitral District is the northern most district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. On its west and north is Afghanistan. In the north the Wakhan Corridor, a narrow strip (2 MILES WIDTH), which separates Pakistan from Tajikistan. Gilgit-Baltistan lies to its east and the districts of Dir and swat to the south. The region can play the role of a bridge for opening the central Asian trade via Wakhan corridor, with the world as being the shortest route to the seas via Gawadar port in Baluchistan. Similarly it can also play a significant role in the Chinese trade with the world, particularly of western china and sin kiang region. Moreover the Kunar River which is generally known as Kabul River originates from Chitral district and then enters Afghanistan to become Kabul River and then comes back to Pakistan. Similarly the main tributaries of the Indus river i.e.: Gilgit, Hunza, Astor, Shigar and Skardu rivers originate from the Gilgit-Baltistan. Therefore the importance of the area as being the major water source for Pakistan cannot be ignored or denied. The hydro power generation capacity of Gilgit-Baltistan is estimated at 30000 megawatts and that of Chitral district is 5000 megawatts. PRESENT STATUS OF THE AREA Gilgit-Baltistan is administratively divided into two divisions. These two divisions are divided into seven districts, including the two Baltistan districts of Skardu and Ghanche, and the five Gilgit districts of Gilgit, Ghizer, Diamer, Astore, and Hunza-Nagar. On 29 August 2009, the Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order, 2009, were passed by the Pakistani cabinet and soon after signed by the President of Pakistan. The order approved self-rule to the region and renamed it Gilgit-Baltistan from former Northern Areas. An elected legislative assembly has also been created by this order. However the fact of the matter is that GB has been provided no representation in the national assembly or the senate of Pakistan. The status of the area has still been retained disputed by the government of Pakistan. Chitral is a district of the Khyber-pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan and forms the part of the Malakand division. It comes under the provincially administered tribal areas. It has got two seats in the entire provincial assembly of KP and only one seat in the national assembly of Pakistan. It has no representation in the senate of Pakistan. RECOMMENDATIONS After reading the above authentic facts it is very clear that before 1842 all of GB was ruled by its own indigenous rajas or rulers. It was only after 1846 that Kashmir state came into being and started interfering in the affairs of GB. Chitral on the other hand had been an independent princely state for centuries till the time of partition of sub-continent. Supposedly even if GB is disputed territory, our point should be that the best way to decide its fate is to ask from its 2.5 million people through a referendum that what they want. They gave their decision of joining Pakistan 64 years ago but Pakistani government has kept it status disputed till now without any representation in the senate and national assembly of Pakistan. Chitral is paying a very heavy price for being an independent princely state in the past and has been attached with KP for the past 43 years. Chitralis have nothing in common with Pashtuns or KP and are a completely separate entity. Chitral is interlinked with Gilgit-Baltistan historically, culturally, ethnically and linguistically and not KP. The Ghizer district of Gilgit Baltistan is ethnically and linguistically Chitrali and it used to be a part of Chitral state under great Mehtar Aman-ul-Mulk. Before that Ghizer was ruled by the katur’s khushwakte kinsmen for centuries. Chitral has only two seats in the entire provincial assembly of KP which is a blatant outrage. Chitralis will always remain a minute minority in KP and will never have any say in the affairs of the province. With only two seats in the entire KP assembly who will ever listen to the voice of Chitral? Chitral and Gilgit Baltistan are the most peaceful areas in the whole of Pakistan. The people are very patriotic Pakistanis. The area of only Chitral district is around 15000 square kms which is 20% of whole of KP. Whereas it has only 2% representation in the entire KP assembly. GB has an area of 72000 sq kms and population around 2 to 2.5 million but no representation at all in the parliament of Pakistan. The combined area of Chitral and GB will be 87000 sq kms and a population of 2.5 to 3 million people. They should be joined together and given the status of a province and proper representation in the national assembly and senate of Pakistan. This is imperative to remove the negative sentiments of the populations against the government of Pakistan. The separatist movements like the Balwaristan national front are going to die down themselves if the area is given its due rights by giving it the status of a province and integral part of Pakistan with proper representation in the parliament of Pakistan. Unfortunately this demand of Chitralis to join with their brethren of Gilgit-Baltistan to form a separate province cannot be fulfilled due to the disputed status of GB maintained by the successive govts of Pakistan for the past 64 years. Despite the fact that unlike Azad Kashmir our brethren of GB got the dogra garrisons out of their territory through their indigenous struggle supported by the princely state of Chitral. After this the people of GB asked Quaid-i- Azam to join them with Pakistan but what a tragedy that till now GB is a disputed territory. This absurd strategy of keeping GB as disputed territory is justified by Pakistan government because they want to gain the favour of votes of GB if ever a referendum takes place on Kashmir issue. The government of Pakistan should know that India has declared Kashmir its integral part and province long time ago and a referendum on Kashmir will never take place. India will never conduct a referendum on Kashmir. Supposedly even if the referendum on Kashmir takes place, GB is a completely separate entity from Kashmir. As a comparison FATA has got 12 seats in the national assembly of Pakistan and 8 in the senate. Azad Kashmir having an area of just 13000 sq kms which is less then only the district of Chitral, has got its own PM, President and legislative assembly. On the other hand GB has got no representation at all in the National assembly and senate of Pakistan. Chitral has got just one seat in the national assembly and no seat in the senate and just two seats in the entire KP assembly. Gilgit-Baltistan-Chitral must stand together united for their due rights and prosperous future otherwise they will remain in the same condition in which they are now. CONCLUSION The growing sentiments of depravity in the socio political economic setup of Gilgit-Baltistan-Chitral region may invite foreign hostile powers of Pakistan to interfere in the region against the interests of Pakistan. Therefore it is imperative that the genuine grievances of the region must be addressed by the government of Pakistan as soon as possible. This can only be done if the region is given the status of a province and integral part of Pakistan with proper representation in the senate and the national assembly of Pakistan. It should also have a proper provincial assembly like the other provinces with all powerful chief minister as the chief executive of the province. The present provincial assembly of GB comes under the ministry of Kashmir affairs which is a blatant outrage.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Aug 2013 13:55:12 +0000
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