Separatists warn Pak: Don’t annex Gilgit-Baltistan
The Kashmir separatist leadership on Friday came down heavily on Pakistan’s reported proposal of declaring Gilgit-Baltistan as its fifth province, asking it to desist from this “adventure of annexation”.
Hardline as well as moderate separatist leaders, including Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik, in a joint statement said that any proposal to declare Giglit-Baltistan as the fifth state of Pakistan is “unacceptable”.
They said that “Kashmir, Ladakh, Jammu, Azad Kashmir and Giglit-Baltistan” is a single entity and stressed that the “political destiny of Jammu and Kashmir is yet to be decided”.
The separatist leaders asked Pakistan to show wisdom and desist from such steps, which may hamper the political and geographical position of J&K.
Geelani, Farooq and Malik expressed hope that Nawaz Sharif, the Pakistan Prime Minister, will fulfil his commitment regarding the geographical entity of J&K and desist from this adventure of annexing GilgitBaltistan.
India also reacted strongly to an attempt by Pakistan to declare the strategic Gilgit-Baltistan region, bordering the disputed Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), as its fifth province.
Gopal Baglay, external affairs ministry spokesperson, said that any such step would not be able to hide the illegality of Pakistan’s occupation of parts of J&K, which it must vacate, forthwith.
But the leaders said that Pakistan is a prime party to the Kashmir issue and stressed that people in the state have always “regarded and accepted the role of Pakistan” for the same. “Any step, which may hamper the disputed status of Kashmir, is unacceptable,” they added.
“We hail the role of Pakistan regarding the issue in international flora, however, any deviation in its stance about Kashmir and its geographical entity is improper and will prove detrimental for the Kashmir cause,” they stated. The leaders said that J&K is a long-standing issue in international fora and the world community has agreed to decide its political destiny through resolutions acknowledged by the United Nations.
“Unless and until the people of the state are provided an opportunity to decide the future course of state through referendum, no division, alteration and changes are acceptable,” the statement said, rejecting any idea of merging or division of state.