Gilgit-Baltistan – A Historical Narrative
Perceptibly, there abound divergent narratives and counter narratives wittingly or unwittingly churned out as to status of Gilgit-Baltistan which more often than not, have no bearing on and are sadly devoid of any substance when put in the correct historical perspective. In order to get the best and clearest possible picture, it becomes imperative to have a full view of and delve deeper into its background with a view to irrefutably place facts connected with the matter in the correct historical order by separating what is called the wheat from the chaff for the information of the readers as follows:
Strictly speaking, the region fell on turbulent times and troublous waters during the second half of the nineteenth century which may, with profit, be called the period of uncertainty and the gloomiest transitional phase in Gilgit-Baltistan’s context. Synoptically, region consisted of and apportioned into a dozen tiny kingdoms each ruled by despotic, independent rulers from times immemorial and until the 19th century when the Dogras, Sikhs and the British started making incursions into this region for the first time. What triggered the cataclysmic change is, in sum, that the rulers of these tiny states were ironically engaged in internecine squabbles resulting from sheer territorial ambitions and at times, intra-dynastic feuds which exacerbated and tottered each of these tiny sovereign entities towards the middle of the 19th century eventually landing them in doldrums. This obviously provided a fertile ground for the adverse winds to blow to crumble the tottering fiefdoms. In these scenarios, catastrophically mindboggling events ensued with the Dogras of Jammu and the Governor of Sikh Darbar of Srinagar starting intrusions into the area with the Dogras of Jammu first occupying Ladakh in 1834 at when the fiefdoms were, by and large, rocked by petty intrigues and riven by intra-dynastic rivalries and factional bickering.
On its heels, the Governor of Sikh Darbar of Kashmir , taking advantage of the local rivalries and factional bickering, invaded Baltistan in 1835 but was ignominiously defeated by Raja Ahmed Shah of Skardu but to his dismay, a family feud cropped up between Raja Ahmed Shah and one of his sons which finally led to occupation of Baltistan by the Dogras in 1840. However, there was a general uprising witnessed in the whole of Baltistan against the Dogras which was sadly quelled in 1842. With this, each fiefdom was convulsed to its roots by the successive blasts of adverse winds. Thus dark clouds of uncertainty kept hovering thick upon the region’s horizon, foreboding great calamity looming large in the distance with the disappearance of the local rulers from the chessboard witnessed under treacherous blows.
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Ominously then, a regular wave of destruction started sweeping over
the region and swept off each and every chieftaincy one after the other. The saga
of occupation of Gilgit and its adjoining principalities thus unfolds a tug of
war and long drawn battles between the invaders and the inhabitants of these
areas spanning the second half of the nineteenth century. In 1842, the Governor
of Sikh Darbar of Srinagar dispatched a huge army towards Gilgit ostensibly for
helping Raja Karim Khan of Gilgit and Raja Issa Bahadur of Punial to regain
their freedom from Raja Gauhar Aman of Yasin who had occupied Gilgit. After a
severe battle the Sikh Army captured Gilgit Sub Division, while Gauhar Aman tactically
retreated to village Sharote in Gilgit. Meanwhile, the treaty of Amritsar
between the British and the Sikhs (1846) created the Dogra State of Jammu and
Kashmir under Muharaja Ghulab Singh.
Come 1851, Raja Gauhar Aman again attacked Gilgit and ransacked the
Dogra garrisons making the Dogra forces to run helter-skelter towards Bunji on
the left side of the Indus. The redoubtable Gauhar Aman heroically resisted and
repulsed many Dogra attacks. and he inflicted a humiliating defeat upon the Dogras
n 1852, by annihilating entirely a huge
army under Bhoop Singh. After this defeat the Dogra forces never dared to
attack Gilgit as long as Gauhar Aman lived.
After Gauhar Aman’s natural death in 1860, the Dogra forces again occupied
Gilgit and also captured Yasin in 1861. But soon the Dogras were driven out of Yasin by Gauhar Aman’s son. Though the
Muharaja had a foothold in Gilgit Sub Division , his position was very
precarious with hostilities from the recalcitrant tribed all around. The
adventure thus turned out to be a quagmire for his forces. Hunza and Nagar
forces were a constant source of harassment for them whilst Raja Gauhar Aman’s
sons persisted with their campaign to dislodge the Dogras from Gilgit through a
series of abortive attacks in 1867, 1868 and 1880 respectively.
In hindsight, the British had created the Hindu State of Jammu and
Kashmir to provide a buffer zone on the Muslim frontier and also to use it as
an instrument to further British interest and sphere of influence among the
minor powers on the frontiers. Seeing it bogged down in Gilgit the British
Indian Government started taking direct control of Gilgit affairs by setting up
a British Agency in 1877.
The Agency was withdrawn in 1880 due to being risky and costly.
However, in view of impending Russian encroachments in Pamir, the British
Agency was re-established in 1889. The British Indian Government then moved
swiftly to bring the hostile and unruly tribes under its control also using the
ploy to lure through friendship and allowances some of the amenable ones during
the course. (To be continued)
Given these strategic objectives, they captured Chilas and Gahkuch
in 1891 on one hand while on the other, the combined forces of British India
and the Dogra State under the command of Col Algernon Durand defeated Hunza and
Nagar forces for the first time at Nilt in 1891-92 finally bringing both the
tiony independent States under the control of the British Agent at Gilgit.
After relieving the mini-siege of Chitral that State was brought
under the direct control of the British Indian Government in 1895 while the
areas of Gupis, Yasin and Ishkoman were detached from Chitral and merged into
Gilgit Agency. With the capitulation of Chitral, the long drawn struggle of
subjugation of the principalities of Gilgit region which was first undertaken
by the Sikhs in 1842 - continued by the Dogras on the behest of the British in
1860 - was consummated by the British themselves in 1895. It took about 35
years and the combined forces of British India and the Dogra State to
completely subdue all the hilltribes of Gilgit and its adjoining areas. However,
the regional people restively remained on the lookout for an opportune moment
to dislodge the invaders but as fate would have it, their efforts were thwarted
and their dreams dashed to the ground with the alien rule having been firmly
established literally on the vanishing of the dynastic rule from the chessboard
during the course.
At long last, the Gilgit Scouts in collusion with Muslim officers of
the 6th Jammu and Kashmir Battalion stationed at Bunji as well as
those deputation with the Gilgit Scouts organised an uprising. A leading role
in organizing this insurrection was played by Col Mirza Hassan Khan - a son of
the soil. The Scouts heroically overthrew the Dogra regime at Gilgit on
November 1, 1947 by capturing the State apparatus and arresting the Governor without
any external assistance whatsoever. Thus they stupendously undid what the
Dogras had done to them. It is noteworthy that all parts getting colonized or
forcibly occupied around the globe when freed returned to their original state
and this exactly fits in with the G-B which after wresting freedom from the
Dogras, voluntarily decided to throw in their lot with Pakistan and requested
Pakistan to take over the administration of the liberated territories. Acceding
to the request of the Provisional Government (De facto Sovereign Body) of
Gilgit, the Pakistan government sent in Sardar Muhammad Alam on 17th
November, 1947 to take over the administration as first Pakistani Political
Agent of Gilgit.
As a matter of fact, the Government of Pakistan in the hope of
getting plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir State mistakenly declared
Gilgit-Baltistan - otherwise an integral
part of Pakistan - as disputed territory before the United Nations. The status
quo has been maintained for the last 67 years despite the fact that after
liberating their area, the people have unequivocally and unambiguously voted
for Pakistan. Thus mention of Gilgit-Baltistan in the UNCIP Resolutions, the
interim nature of the Sino-Pakistan Boundary Agreement of 1962 and indication
of the area in the map and census of Jammu and Kashmir State etc. are all
sequel to the initial mistake of portraying this region as a disputed territory
despite its being an integral and constitutional part of Pakistan as referred
to in the fore-going and the regional people are no party to it as adverted to
before.
Understandably, mere figments of imagination do not change the
ground realities as the people of GB exercised their collective will and cumulative
wisdom in the aftermath of liberation of this vast area and acceded to Pakistan;
and ipso facto, they deserve unquestionably to be taken out of this conundrum
with the retrieval of this geo-strategically important territory from
constitutional limbo it has long been in. The people are equally entitled to
representation in the parliament and the national policy-making bodies so that
they are able to partake of the affairs at national level as they have suffered
irreparably on that count so far. Had there been no nonchalance, the area could
have been declared even as a provisional province long ago by introducing
amendments in the relevant constitutional provisions in order to allow them
representation in the parliament and the central policy-making even
provisionally being there absolutely no hitch whatsoever as remains the case
with the interim agreements under reference. It is to be seen that the Sino-Pak
Boundary Agreement (1963) was made provisionally and likewise, implementation
mega projects in this region too is done in similar fashion. There was
therefore no stumbling block whatsoever in making the area a provisional province
and allowing representation in parliament as an interim arrangement.
Viewed in this backdrop, it has to be acknowledged that the people
of Gilgit-Baltistan have rendered supreme sacrifices for Pakistan as well as
the Kashmir cause. Their case as consistently sought and tenaciously pursued by
them for a just and judicious determination in conformity with the regions
historical background warrants consideration without any inordinate delay as 67
years is enough time. It cannot be gainsaid that the GBians make such a
distinct citizenry of Pakistan that joined it by choice after liberating this huge
territory three months after emergence of Pakistan. The rest of citizens of country
may largely constitute population falling in the territorial limits of the
new-found country on account of the division on the basis of the two-nation
theory.
The foregoing synoptic narrative historically refutes the harangue
of the AJK leadership who want to hamper any move by the Central
government whenever it comes to legitimately democratizing and improving
governance in Gilgit-Baltistan. The ruling PML-N in G-B has aptly spurned the
AJK leaders contention and timely confuted it specious claims.
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