The Chief Minister of GB, Mr. Syed Mehdi Shah has said that the directive of the Supreme Court of Pakistan regarding repatriation of Hussain Asghar, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), to Islamabad — to take up a corruption case — does not apply to the official, for he serves under the government of Gilgit-Baltistan and the region falls outside of the ambit of Pakistan’s constitution of 1973. He maintained that the government of Gilgit-Baltistan is not obligated to honour verdicts of the apex court of Pakistan. Bravo! The statement looks daring and honest per se, nonetheless, oblivious to the repercussions and contrary to what he opined earlier. It seems, Shah is in denial of Supreme Court’s authority over the region for constitutional reasons or whatever reasons one may infer. But hold on; what constitutional discourse he follows when he basks in the perks and privileges as a Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan? What ground he stands on when he so often shows off his democratic might and superficial political grandeur in the region? How much constitutional, if any, is the GB package, under which he is ruling a nation? These are the questions people ask; every which way Shah moulds the constitutional interpretation and the stature of the region. Mr. Shah has no problem with the establishment of the Council and the Legislative Assembly of Gilgit-Baltistan through a political order. From the federal government, Shah’s government receives billions of rupees too. But when it comes to follow the orders of the apex court of Pakistan, he takes refuge in the murky political, geographic and constitutional status of the region – a region internationally stands disputed according the resolutions of the United Nations. Mehdi Shah’s statement should not evaporate in the air. It is a daring declaration that could long serve as touchstone when it comes to dealing with the constitutional stature of matters related to Gilgit-Baltistan. Mehdi Shah should put conviction to his statement and stick to his decision of resisting the court order to repatriate the former IGP. He should walk a mile more in the same shoes to resolve the issue according to the resolutions of the United Nations. He should also declare that Gilgit Baltistan cannot be constituted as the fifth province of Pakistan, for the region’s destiny is yet to be decided by the United Nations. That, however, would be too much to ask from Islamabad’s gilgi Wazarat. The misfortune of the people of the region is that folks of Mehdi Shah’s kind dance to the tunes of the Federal government— for their own vested interest obviously. It is also a fact that the self-styled political leaders earlier than Mehdi Shah’s government served for Islamabad’s agenda too. It has been so since 1947, and getting political and constitutional rights to the people of the region was nobody’s interest. Unlike the Assembly of Gilgit-Baltistan, the council and the Assembly of Azad Kashmir have the powers to amend the interim constitution of the state. GB government has no powers even to add up a single sentence in the so-called Self-governance and Autonomy Order of 2009. The people of Azad Kashmir also have the right to vote inside Pakistan to elect their own 12 representatives into the Assembly and the Council. Pakistan has usurped the rights of the indigenous people of Gilgit-Baltistan for the last over six decades. The country has no intention to accept the reality on the ground even today. The residents of Gilgit-Baltistan remain second grade citizens as of now. If Mehdi Shah truly believes that Gilgit-Baltistan falls outside of the Supreme Court’s legal jurisdiction, at his current role, he must approach to the United Nations to plea for the self determination of the region. As a matter of fact, Mehdi Shah and his cohorts always have hoodwinked the people of the region in order to safeguard their own personal interests. Each passing day, the masses of the region are getting nearer to the light, and it seems, they would rise to snatch their rights from the usurpers someday. It is just a matter of time.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 18:36:53 +0000
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