By: Aziz Ali Dad
The process of subjugation in Gilgit-Baltistan entails continuous emaciation of local society on the one side, and increasing intrusion of the administrative arm of the state in the culture, society, and religion in the region on the other. This helps the state to keep the local populace disenfranchised by erasing them from nation state building project and the narrative of state history. A salient feature of Gilgit-Baltistan vis-à-vis its relationship with the polity of Pakistan is that none of the country’s constitutions of 1956, 1962 and 1973 recognised the region as its part. All the reforms introduced by the Centre in Gilgit-Baltistan aim at keeping the region in a liminal position and identity in constitutional limbo.
Anthropologically speaking liminal state is a transitional phase between different states where one is no more what he/she was and not yet becoming what he is supposed to. Here I am employing the term liminality to define faceless identity of Gilgit-Baltistan and peripheral status of the region in the history and state making in process in Pakistan. Thus, the region of Gilgit-Baltistan is a zone which has lost its previous identity on the one hand, and not allowed to acquire new identity within the state of Pakistan because of structural and constitutional reasons on the other.
The political dynamics in Gilgit-Baltistan are different from the rest of Pakistan, shaped by the distinct historical memory and indigenous struggle for the region’s independence. Nevertheless, most of the official and unofficial accounts about the history of Pakistan include the four provinces and Azad Kashmir but they remain silent over the position of Gilgit-Baltistan within the overarching history and ideology of Pakistan. Almost all the official and unofficial histories of Pakistan tend either to exclude or ignore Gilgit-Baltistan.
Here are some of the books on the history of Pakistan cited as examples. For instance, “the grand old man of historiography in Pakistan”, Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed Qureshi, is totally oblivious of Gilgit-Baltistan, for his books do not shed any light on the region within his overall schema of Pakistan’s history. This is the man who served as secretary in the ministries of education and frontier regions. Still, he was totally ignorant about a newly merged region on a strategically sensitive frontier of the newly born nation — Pakistan.
Aitzaz Ahsan, in his popular book on socio-political history ‘The Indus Saga and the Making of Pakistan’, tries to repudiate the thesis that treats Pakistan as a historical aberration and builds a case for Pakistan by relying on the valleys along the Indus and its tributaries. Although Indus enters Pakistan through Gilgit-Baltistan, the region does not come under Ahsan’s historical radar. It may be because the history of Gilgit-Baltistan appears anomalous in the context of Pakistan’s history. Therefore, he preferred to push it into oblivion.
Similarly, Ian Talbot in his book ‘Pakistan: A New History’ never brings Gilgit-Baltistan within the purview of history, though he adorns front cover of the second edition of the book with a picture of Karakoram Highway in Gilgit-Baltistan. Likewise, the front cover of ‘A History of Pakistan’ by Roger D. Long visually covers Pakistan by putting snow clad mountains of Gilgit-Baltistan on the top and picture of a tunnel in Balochistan, Mohenjo Daro and Badshahi Mosque in descending order. But Gilgit-Baltistan does not appear in the narration of the book.
The optics in politics of presentation instead of politics of representation is a part of the state plan to show the land sans local people as a part of Pakistan.
The picturesque nature of Gilgit-Baltistan also appears in other prominent national emblems like the currency as K2 Mountain appears in 50-rupee denomination. The optics in politics of presentation instead of politics of representation is a part of the state plan to show the land sans local people as a part of Pakistan. This optical mechanisation by the state extends to other spheres of life. It is this politics of optics through which the region is represented as an exoticised eco-space for the gaze of tourists.
Dr Nosheen Ali thinks that ‘nature remains the primary modality through which Gilgit-Baltistan is understood within the Pakistani national imagination. Its magnificent peaks and breathtaking valleys invoke within Pakistanis a simultaneous sense of emotional attachment and proud ownership, permitting them to claim Pakistan as “beautiful.” So, there is a gap between gaze of power over objective nature in Gilgit-Baltistan and subjectivities begotten by suppressive system and crippling political conditions.
The state depends more on the power of optics than real empowerment of the people.
From the practices and processes of existing power dispensation in Gilgit-Baltistan, it can be deduced that the state depends more on the power of optics than real empowerment of the people. That is why the current political structure has all the assemblage and resemblance of a modern political system of modernity. For example, in 2009 the region was declared a province without any constitutional cover. The region’s quasi-provincial status includes the traditional trappings of a province such as an assembly, a speaker, a chief minister and a governor. Initially, its nomenclature was named Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly. But the word ‘legislative’ has since been silently removed. Its status has now been effectively reduced to that of a municipality without substantive power.
Also read: Phantoms of Power in Gilgit-Baltistan-I
Psychopathology and societal malaise of Gilgit-Baltistan
The governance challenges are further aggravated by the suspension of local bodies elections since 2004 which stifles the development of young and potential politicians from the grassroots level. Meanwhile, the elections for the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly are held as a mere ritual every five years. The mechanism surrounding selection of the chief minister and governor follows the rituals typical of a parliamentary system but mechanisation behind the scene is run by the established powers. In reality, all the rituals, fanfare, optics and antics surrounding politics and political system in Gilgit-Baltistan are devoid of parliamentary and democratic spirit. It is a selected body without spirit.
As the political class has been made subservient to the oversized state bureaucracy, a new political culture has emerged that seeks access to the corridors of power by any means other than democratic ones. The Gilgit-Baltistan Governance Order, rather than fostering a better society and orderly system through politics, has instead created disorder. This disorder has influenced the social and political psychology of the region.
A glance at the politics and state functions in Gilgit-Baltistan shows a picture of pandemonium in asylum house than a democratic debate and governance. Those who claim to hold the reins of power are under the illusion of power. The tall claims of the long arms of power are just figments of imagination of the local political class whose arms have been chopped off, but they still believe in the phantom limb.
In the next article we will be discussing the local historiography and emaciation of local agency and aggrandizement of political agent. (To be continued)
The writer is interested in the history of ideas. He has authored the book Nomadic Meditations: Wandering in the History of Ideas, and edited “Beyond the Mountains: Social and Political Imaginaries of Gilgit-Baltistan” with Dr. Noshen Ali. He may be reached at: azizalidad@gmail.com
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