Gilgit-Baltistan, a gloomy land

Plenty of mini and micro-hydro sites have been discovered across GB which could be developed but the region has plunged into darkness due to a lack of investment from the Pakistani establishment.

Ironically, there seems no improvement in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) situation and the rights abuses go on unabated in the disputed territory. There are a number of political activists who are still behind the bars for raising voice for the rights of the 2 million disenfranchised people there.

Formerly known as the Northern Areas, GB is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative territory, and constituting the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region which has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947, and between India and China from somewhat later period. It borders 'Azad Kashmir' to the south, the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west, the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan to the north, the Xinjiang region of China, to the east and northeast, and the Indian-administered Union territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh to the southeast.

Gilgit-Baltistan is six times larger than Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in terms of geographical area. It covers an area of over 72,971 sq km and is highly mountainous. It has an estimated population of 14,92,924.

Currently, GB is neither a province nor a State. It has a semi-provincial status. Officially, the Pakistan government had rejected calls for integration with Pakistan on the grounds that it would jeopardise its demands for the whole Kashmir issue to be resolved as per the UN resolutions. Some Kashmiri separatist groups, such as the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), claim GB as part of a future independent State to match what existed in 1947 whereas the reality is that it is a part of the former princely State of Jammu and Kashmir which is an integral part of India.

The region has now asserted itself against the hegemony of Pakistan in a democratic way of mass protests against electricity shortages, reduction in the wheat quota, taxation and land-grabbing. The frequent protests have been superheated by the Awami Action Committee - an alliance of various political, religious and trade associations.

Most of the population in the GB region lives without access to the national grid and mostly relies on traditional energy resources, which undermines the huge potential of renewable energy in the region. Of the 1.8 million people of GB, 86% reside in the rural areas. The region faces severe electricity shortfalls despite having good potential for untapped photovoltaic (PV), wind and hydro resources due to a lack of proper energy policy, infrastructural development issues, and investment barriers for the private sector.

The Pakistani establishment is not interested in seeing the region prosperous and self-independent. Across Gilgit-Baltistan, energy sources used in household and commercial enterprises are firewood, kerosene oil, candles, hydropower, thermal power, dung cakes, diesel oil, batteries, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and coal. The current energy mix of the GB region is 45% firewood, 30% LPG, 19% electricity (distributed hydro plants) and 6% kerosene oil.

GB contributes minutely to the economy of Pakistan despite having immense economic potential in the form of tourist attractions, massive resources of renewable energy, deposits of minerals and precious stones as well as its geopolitical location that facilitates the only road crossing trade link between Pakistan and China - the linchpin of CPEC.

Since about 75% of the population of Gilgit-Baltistan is connected to unreliable and inefficient generating plants, it faces severe shortfalls both in the summer and winter seasons. The local government and international organizations have consistently shown interest in financing community-based micro-hydro stations in GB. Plenty of mini and micro-hydro sites have been discovered across GB which could be developed but due to a lack of resources and investment by Pakistan, the region has plunged into darkness.

GB's land issue is grave and has persisted for decades. It acquired greater urgency after 2015 when Pakistan started obtaining more and more land in the name of development and security for CPEC. Locals argue that the land belongs to GB's people, as the region is disputed and has not yet been constitutionally integrated into Pakistan. The common land in GB has been used by the people for livestock grazing, collecting firewood, etc since Dogra rule - in fact, for centuries before that, the locals claim. Interestingly, in the Land Revenue Act, which was extended to GB, this common land is not shown as government land. With the rise in population and the sudden spike in prices, the value of land increased manifold, and the conflict between the State and the people started. They are demanding compensation for the land given to State institutions and the cancellation of illegal allotments to land mafias.

After GB's separation, successive Pakistani governments gave little importance to the barren land over there. When Bhutto abolished the local feudal system and brought land reforms in the 1970s, GB residents paid an amount of money devised by the government at the time to obtain ownership. In 1914-16, the Dogras, facing difficulty in revenue collection, provided cultivated land to the local rulers, or 'rajas', to collect revenue and give it to the State as taxation. The remaining land was considered 'shamilaat' (common property) of the villages.

(R C Ganjoo is a senior journalist and columnist having more than 30 years experience of covering issues concerning national security, particularly Kashmir. He has worked with several prominent media groups and his articles have been published in many national and international publications.)

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