[Press Review] DAWN’s editorial on Gilgit – Baltistan
What the government appears to have done is to try and occupy the middle ground by moving towards replicating the AJK template of governance in Gilgit-Baltistan. It is certainly not ideal — there are real questions about whether the federally dominated council will overshadow the locally elected assembly — but it at least opens the door to further changes down the road once the new system is operational. The people of Gilgit-Baltistan dese- rve all their rights; how- ever, realistically, that goal can only be achieved incrementally.
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The Government of Pakistan (GOP) may have its hands tied due to the Kashmir dispute and its stance on it, but the people of Gilgit-Baltistan have no such compulsions. Actions taken by the GOP in Gilgit-Baltistan are usually unilateral, without endorsement from the people of G-B. I think the people of G-B are as free as (or should be) as the GOP is in taking unilateral decisions. A call for autonomy or Independence by the people of Gilgit-Baltistan should have the same legitimacy as this “Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self Governance Order, 2009” has