Even After 78 Years, Gilgit-Baltistan Still Awaits Dignity And The Right To Shape Its Own Future – OpEd

More than seven decades after acceding to Pakistan in 1947, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) remains suspended in constitutional ambiguity — administered by Islamabad yet denied the rights, institutions, and protections accorded to Pakistan’s provinces.

The region’s governance has long rested on ad-hoc orders, ambiguous legal arrangements, and executive decisions issued from the federal capital, leaving its people without meaningful participation in how they are governed.

A Region Governed by Decrees, Not Representation

GB has never been integrated into Pakistan’s constitutional framework. Instead, the region is ruled through successive governance orders issued by Islamabad, which allow the federal government to retain decisive control over legislative, administrative, and economic matters.

This model traces back to the 1949 Karachi Agreement — a document that transferred authority over GB to Pakistan without a single representative from GB present. The omission created a political vacuum that persists to this day.

Residents have repeatedly protested the resulting power imbalance. Their demands include land rights, equitable taxation, basic services, and compensation for land acquired for mega-projects such as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Demonstrations are a regular feature of life in GB, with citizens often braving sub-zero temperatures to make themselves heard.

A Pattern of Neglect and Centralised Control

Pakistan’s mainstream political parties have shown little urgency to resolve GB’s limbo. The region’s largest city, Skardu, spends much of the winter in darkness — up to 22 hours of daily power cuts — because GB remains disconnected from Pakistan’s national power grid. Projects such as the Satpara Dam, intended to supply electricity to tens of thousands of homes, deliver only a fraction of their promised output.

Economic and political decisions continue to bypass local institutions. Federal authorities maintain control over key sectors such as minerals, water resources, and hydropower. Even GB’s Revenue Authority Bill, imposing taxes without representation in the National Assembly or Senate, deepens the perception of “taxation without political rights”.

The result is a widening sense of alienation.

Growing Public Unrest, Deepening Grievances

According to assessments by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), the region is experiencing growing unrest driven by economic neglect, environmental pressures, taxation, and political disenfranchisement.

Mass protests have been fuelled by soaring wheat prices, prolonged electricity shortages, encroachment of federal and CPEC-linked projects, exclusion from federal revenue-sharing mechanisms, the absence of constitutional rights.

The report notes that GB is “on the edge of chaos”, with grievances intensifying each year.

Land, Borders, and Disregarded Local Consent

Pakistan’s decisions on territorial matters have consistently bypassed GB’s people. In 1963, Islamabad ceded land south of the Mintaka Pass — historically belonging to Hunza — to China under a border agreement negotiated without consulting a single GB representative.

Similarly, construction of the Karakoram Highway, linking Pakistan with Xinjiang, opened the region to an influx of narcotics, weapons, and religious militias. These developments, according to multiple assessments, disrupted local demographics and contributed to rising sectarian tensions.

Control Over Resources, Exclusion From Royalties

GB is excluded from core constitutional bodies like the Council of Common Interests (CCI) and the Indus River System Authority (IRSA). As a result, royalties from dams, minerals, and hydropower bypass the region entirely. Mega-projects such as the Diamer-Basha Dam are administered directly by federal institutions such as WAPDA, with little role for — or benefit to — the local population.

The Gilgit-Baltistan Council, historically chaired by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, has retained overriding authority over dozens of critical legislative areas, including minerals, hydropower, and tourism — further weakening local governance.

An Uncertain Future, A Growing Demand for Rights

After 78 years, the people of Gilgit-Baltistan continue to demand dignity, representation, and the right to determine their future. Their struggle is not for separatism, but for constitutional clarity, equal citizenship, and participation in national decision-making.

The region’s residents have made their stance clear: incremental reforms are no longer enough. As protests spread across GB, the call for political recognition grows louder — reflecting a society that refuses to accept permanent limbo, and a population determined to reclaim agency over its land, resources, and destiny.