Voice of dissent: G-B Council members question Centre’s intent

Representatives from region say they will only participate if their demands are approved.

GILGIT: Feeling increasingly estranged, members of the Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) Council representing the region have set a condition for their participation in the council’s next meeting to be chaired by the prime minister: approval of their demands.

A lawmaking body with equal representation from G-B and the federal government, the G-B Council was supposed to meet on Tuesday, but failed to do so. The meeting has been scheduled five times in the past three months—only to be postponed each time on one pretext or the other. Members from G-B say the exercise is now becoming a waste of time and money.

“This is a sheer waste of our time,” said Amjad Hussain, an active member of the G-B Council. “If it (the meeting) is not going to take place, why do [they] invite us all the way from Gilgit to Islamabad,” he told The Express Tribune soon after Tuesday’s meeting was postponed indefinitely.



While Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif could not make it to the meeting, council members from G-B have also put forward conditions before Federal Minister for Information Pervaiz Rasheed and Minister for G-B and Kashmir Affairs Birjis Tahir. The members threatened to boycott future meetings if their demands are not met. Most feel there is a discrepancy between the revenue generated from the region and what is spent on it for development.

“What we want is a financial mechanism for G-B,” said Hussain. “At present, we do not have any such mechanism, which is affecting mega projects like the Diamer-Bhasha Dam.”

Hussain said customs duty and income tax are levied in G-B, but the federal government is tight-lipped about how much it collects in sales tax from the region. Similarly, the 18th Amendment was not extended to G-B, further fuelling resentment as regional representatives have no authority to make laws on otherwise provincial subjects like forests, energy and minerals.

“If these points aren’t acceptable to the government, we have decided not to attend [council] meetings from now on.”

Burdening the kitty

Insiders said the meeting which was supposed to take place on Tuesday has been earlier put off four times already, causing an unnecessary loss to the exchequer.

It was first scheduled for November 25, 2014, then for December 15, followed by January 5 this year, then January 15 and finally January 27. With the voice of dissent now growing louder, when the meeting will eventually be convened is now anybody’s guess. “For each trip from Gilgit to Islamabad,
Rs1 million is spent on the travel and other expenses of council members and staff,” said one insider. “Moreover, development schemes in G-B worth Rs370 million are in limbo as a result.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 28^th, 2015.