Why Gilgit-Baltistan elections were postponed



Jammu, July 31:

The Assembly elections in Gilgit-Baltistan under the illegal occupation of Pakistan  were  postponed a fortnight ago  from August 18 to October . This was  due to the complex political situation that has developed in the beautiful region because the locals are reluctant to  accept the continuation of direct rule from Islamabad  and their political disempowerment .

Islamabad  is  living in a make-believe world  of its own , thinking that its all-weather friendship with China and its military power can silence the people of the region forever . But that is not going to be the case, for the people of GB have seen that how the UT of Ladakh  of which they are part  legally and constitutionally  as their region is part of the erstwhile princely state of  Jammu and Kashmir  are enjoying their new status  in which their long pending aspirations have  been fulfilled .

The state had acceded to India legally . That position can neither be reversed  by any military might nor under the garb of “ Kashmir dispute” pending In the United Nations because of the security council resolutions of 1948-49.

Ladakh was declared as a Union  Territory on August 5  last year , separating it from the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. It fulfilled a decades-old demand of the people of Ladakh who already have  two hill councils , one each for the  districts of Leh and Kargil and they enjoy tremendous powers  and control the  administrative affairs . With the region getting UT status , all major  centrally sponsored schemes and their   benefits have reached   at the doorsteps of the people . Their dreams have come true .

Since Ladakh has suzerainty over Gilgit-Baltistan , new aspirations have   got embedded among the people of that part of Ladakh that  unnaturally and illegally lies across the Line of Control . They have  given voice to their  political aspirations and that would have gone against the plans of Islamabad to control everything there by its puppets. That is the real reason for the postponement of the elections as their political assertion, if realized,  would  upset Islamabad’s apple cart  in the region that has become so critical  for its economy and  maintenance of its friendship  with China .

Even Pakistani media has pointed out the mess  that Pakistani establishment has created in Gilgit -Baltistan . The media has admitted that the young and educated population in G B is asking for its rights , but these have not been accorded to them. And that is one of the reasons that the Pakistani establishment is uncertain about the poll process  and its outcome, hence postponed.

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