Gilgit and Baltistan
19. Bad as the situation is in AJK, it is infinitely worse in Gilgit and Baltistan, the
northernmost area of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, which enjoys no status or even the
semblance of democratic representation.
20. Gilgit and Baltistan (referred to as the Northern Areas by Pakistan) is administered by
Pakistan. As Pakistan maintains that the whole of Jammu and Kashmir is disputed
territory, it has not formally incorporated the Northern Areas. As such, it is neither a
province of Pakistan nor a part of AJK. The Northern Areas Council, set up some time
ago, with the boast that it is functioning like a 'Provincial Assembly', screens, in reality, a
total absence of constitutional identity or civil rights.
21. The people are kept in poverty, illiteracy and backwardness. The deprivation and lack of
even very basic needs provision can be easily seen - 25 small hospitals serviced by 140
doctors (translating into 1 doctor per 6,000 people) as compared to 830 hospitals and
75,000 doctors in the rest of Pakistan, an overall literacy rate of 33%, with especially
poor educational indicators for girls and women; only 12 high schools and 2 regional
colleges in Gilgit and Baltistan, with no postgraduate facilities; apart from government
jobs, the only other employment being in the tourism sector, which is obviously
problematic A few locals are able to secure government jobs but even then they are paid
up to 35% less than non-native employees; there is no local broadcast media.
22. The 2005 earthquake, disastrous in itself, exacerbated all the above. It would be wholly
irresponsible not to draw attention to this situation or to highlight these continuing
injustices, and the report therefore underlines forcefully the need for Pakistan to revisit its
concept of democratic accountability and to address the needs provision issue in the areas
under its (de facto) control.
The issue of a plebiscite
23. The report makes clear its support for the current peace process between Pakistan and
India as the way forward.
24. Pakistan continues to point to early UNSC Resolutions on Kashmir to support its
contention that there should be a plebiscite to determine whether a reunited Jammu and
Kashmir should "join" India or Pakistan. The report notes, however, that the UN-laid
down conditions for such a plebiscite have not been, and can no longer be, met by
Pakistan. The situation has moved on.
Conclusion
25. In conclusion, the report recognises the ancient and unique heritage of the Kashmiri
people, and the rapporteur has nothing but praise for their tenacity. After so many
decades of conflict and tragedy in this particularly beautiful and historic part of the subcontinent,
it is heartening to see the two great powers, India and Pakistan, coming
together with the peoples of Kashmir and that peaceful solutions are both on the horizon
and being implemented, a familiar process which the European Parliament fully supports.
