Protests broke out in different parts of Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region last week in opposition to the arrest of several activists of the Awami Action Committee (AAC). The protesters demanded their immediate release, Dawn reported.
People across the region observed the strike call made by the AAC and came out into the streets to support the call for the release of Advocate Ehsan Ali, Engineer Mahboob Wali, Masoodul Rehman, and others who were arrested on Wednesday, May 14, by security forces.
The activists were arrested under Pakistan’s anti-terrorism laws and charged with involvement in anti-state activities and delivering hate speech. Several other activists were also charged under similar acts. An anti-terror court granted a 14-day remand of the leaders.
Gilgit-Baltistan, situated in the north-east of the country, is the northern part of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. It is a disputed region between India and Pakistan which came under Pakistani control in 1947-48. Pakistan divided its part of Kashmir into two administrative units, Azad Kashmir and the Northern Areas, in 1972. The Northern Areas were renamed as Gilgit-Baltistan in 2009. A mostly mountainous region, it has a very small population.
Inhabitants of the region have for decades complained about systemic discrimination and state neglect. Successive administrations in Pakistan have failed to address the demands of integration by the local people. The governments in Pakistan have used colonial era legislation to govern the region claiming any full integration under the Pakistani constitution would jeopardize Pakistan’s claims over Kashmir. This leaves the region without any effective democratic representation.
Activists struggle against resource looting and colonialism
Ehsan Ali and AAC have been waging a movement against what they call the federal government’s neglect and bias against the region and for equal rights of the people with the rest of Pakistan.
The Gilgit-Baltistan AAC is a broad-based coalition of political parties, trade unions, and rights groups in the region which often has opposed the exploitative and oppressive policies of the federal government in Islamabad. AAC has led various popular protest movements against what it calls resource looting and colonialism in the region.
Recently, AAC has been campaigning against a controversial land reforms act, which was enacted earlier this year but failed to fulfill the long-standing demands of the locals for the ownership of common lands. The act grants mining and exploration licenses and has been criticized for failing to ensure the compensation and resettlement of people displaced due to various development projects, such as the Diamer Dam on the Indus River.
Protesters have claimed the Pakistani state is using false pretenses to arrest activists who are fighting to preserve the natural resources of the region from corporate looting.
Several students from Gilgit-Baltistan protesting in Karachi against the arrest of Ali and others were also arrested on Sunday, May 18. Several students also complained about being manhandled by the security forces.
Widespread condemnation
The Awami Workers Party (AWP) which is a part of the AAC, released a statement condemning the arrests of the activists on Wednesday. “The arrests are part of a systemic campaign of harassment and terror against peaceful activists in Gilgit-Baltistan that are demanding basic freedoms,” it said in the statement.
Protesters claimed the immediate reason for the arrest of AAC activists is the scheduled general assembly or grand jirga on May 26. The jirga was called to decide the course of action against the government’s move to invite direct foreign investment in the exploration and production of mineral resources in the region.
The Shehbaz Sharif-led government in Pakistan has been pushing for increased direct foreign investment in the country’s mining and agriculture sectors as a way out of the growing financial crisis in the country.
AAC and other rights groups have accused the government of facilitating the looting of the region’s natural resources by foreign and army-owned businesses. They have claimed that such looting ultimately deprives the local peoples rights over their own resources.
Calling the arrest of Ehsan Ali and others “disturbing news”, Ammar Ali Jan, scholar and leader of Haqooq-E-Khalq Party (HKP), called on the progressive sections of the country to direct their attention to the country’s internal issues after weeks of a war-like situation with neighboring India.
Ali Jan noted that the “massive crackdown” against activists fighting for the rights of the local population and against distorted notions of development is nothing less than a war.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) also issued a statement demanding the immediate release of AAC leaders and warned against any further raids and arrests.
Recently, the Pakistani state has repeatedly cracked down on activists raising popular concerns over its policies in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and several other regions as well.
