The legal status of Gilgit-Baltistan, which is part of Jammu and Kashmir that is under Pakistani occupation, has remained undefined in successive Pakistani constitutions. Pakistan governs the region with ad hoc presidential ordinances, resulting in transitory political arrangements. It was Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto who first introduced the so-called Northern Areas Governance Order of 1994, after shelving the draconian and inhumane Frontier Crimes Regulation, with which Pakistan ruled the region like a colony.
Gilgit Baltistan: Pakistan’s Growing Travails and India’s Inexplicable Silence
A course correction coupled with a proactive policy of nurturing the growing pro-India constituency in Gilgit Baltistan is the need of the hour.