Pakistan senators demand provincial status for Gilgit Baltistan

A group of Pakistani senators have submitted a bill in the Upper House of Parliament to grant provincial status to Gilgit-Baltistan region, which India has repeatedly called its integral part.

Islamabad: A group of Pakistani senators have submitted a bill in the Upper House of Parliament to grant provincial status to Gilgit-Baltistan region, which India has repeatedly called its integral part. Senators Kauda Babar, Ahmad Khan, Naseebullah Bazai and Prince Omar of Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) on Monday proposed amendments to Article 1 of the Constitution to create a new interim province, the Express Tribune newspaper reported. Formerly known as the Northern Areas, Gilgit Baltistan is administered by the Pakistani federal government - which India describes as illegal occupation.

India has clearly conveyed to Pakistan that the entire union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including the areas of Gilgit and Baltistan, are an integral part of the country by virtue of its fully legal and irrevocable accession. India maintains the government of Pakistan or its judiciary has no locus standi on territories illegally and forcibly occupied by it. The BAP's constitutional bill stated that the people of Gilgit Baltistan have long been demanding equal citizenship rights. The bill further said a unanimous resolution was also passed by the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly.

It proposed three seats in the National Assembly for Gilgit-Baltistan and four in the Senate two general seats and one each for technocrats and women. It also proposed a Gilgit-Baltistan high court, based in Gilgit with a bench in Skardu. It also seeks the region's representation in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

PTI