PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Monday that any possible constitutional amendment should provide protection to the rights of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).
“If any constitutional amendment has to be made anywhere, it is very important that the rights of GB are protected under it,” he said while addressing a rally in GB’s Shigar while addressing a public gathering ahead of June 7 elections in the region.
In this connection, he said, “We can take forward their struggle for their right of rule (haq-i-hakimiyat)”. For this, the first step would be to hold elections in GB and the rest of Pakistan at the same time, he said.
“When elections are held in Gilgit-Baltistan and the rest of Pakistan at the same time, progress in GB’s struggle for right of rule will be made in the true sense,” he added. “If we want to ensure the right of rule [for GB], demands or aims should be to hold elections in GB at the same time as general elections in Pakistan.”
Speaking of right to ownership (haq-i-malkiyat) for GB, he claimed that the difference between the PPP and other parties was that “they want to run everything from Islamabad; they want to run Gwadar from Islamabad, they want to run Karachi from Islamabad”.
Addressing the rally’s participants, Bilawal said, “You have been facing it. You have faced the consequences of your fate being decided in Islamabad.”
He asserted that the people of GB should make decisions for the region.
The PPP chairperson also questioned the need for the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and GB.
“What is the benefit of having a minister for Kashmir affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan? End this ministry. They say that the Centre has no resources. If that is the case, the first thing that should be done is end this ministry. And then all political, financial and administrative authority should be transferred to the assemblies in Gilgit and Muzaffarabad,” he said.
He claimed that some other political parties viewed “your mountains, your resources under the earth, and your marble are their resources. But they are not their but your resources”.
Bilawal said if the people of GB and Shigar were authorised to make their own decisions, they would make financial progress, and so would Islamabad.
He further said the PPP had also worked towards getting people their right to right to livelihood (haq-i-rozgar).
“I believe it is our responsibility to provide employment opportunities to the youth of GB, Shigar and Pakistan. That will only be possible if you get the right to ownership […] When that happens, you will not just employment to your youth, but to people from across Pakistan,” he said.
More to follow
