PAKISTAN
OCCUPIED KASHMIR AND NORTHERN AREAS
DR. BHASHYAM KASTURI
The Kargil intrusions
brought into focus Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, or as they are known in Pakistan - the
Northern Areas. This large chunk of territory annexed by Pakistan in
1947, provided the bulk of the manpower for the intrusions, consisting of the
Northern Light Infantry of the Pakistan army. The area also provided the logistic
base from which operations were launched and sustained in the Kargil region
of Jammu and Kashmir on the Indian side of the Line of Control (LOC). The area for
intrusion and the military units chosen suggest that Pakistan had in mind to put into
practice a covert plan, which depended on surprise and called for the non-participation of
main part of the Pakistan army consisting of Punjabi musalmans, in
order that India did not become aware of the plan.
It is in this context that this paper
studies the region, its people and the military component. It
argues that the Kargil intrusions have brought into focus
the NA and this India must take advantage of as a foreign policy tool. In
other words, just as Pakistan keeps referring to Kashmir in
international fora, India must also refer to POK and the NA and the state of
affairs there.
The Area, People and History
The Northern Areas of Pakistan consists of the
five districts of Gilgit, Ghizer, Diamer, Skardu and Ganche. The total
area is 28,000 sq miles with a population of 1.2 million. The district of
Chitral has always been a part of the Northern Areas till the
arrival of the British in the 19th century. Pakistan Occupied Kashmir
(Azad Kashmir as it known in Pakistan) on the other hand is just 4,494 sq miles with
a population of 1.5 million.
The Northern Areas border Afghanistan, the Central
Asian Republic of Tajikstan and Xingjiang province of China. On the south it has 300 miles
of border with Kashmir and Ladakh. Ethnically the Northern Areas and Chitral
have Tajik, Uzbek, Mongol, Turkmen and Greek population. Also the area
has Baltees, Shins, Yashkuns, Mughals, Kashmiris, Pathans, Ladakis and Turks
who speak the dialects of Balti, Shina, Brushaki, Khawer, Turki, Tibetan, Pushto and
Persian. Shias and Sunnis in the area have their own sub-divisions. The Shias
are sub-divided into Asharis, Ismailis and Noor Bakshis.
The Northern Areas (NA) are administratively not
part of POK and are ruled directly by the Pakistan government from Islamabad. It is
governed by the Frontier Crime Regulationframed by the British. The NA are ruled
directly by the Minister of State for Kashmir and Northern areas (Pakistan) with the
help of six officers, all non-natives. In 1990 a writ petition was filed in the High
Court of Azad Kashmir by various parties to bring the Northern Areas under the
administrative control of the Azad Kashmir government. In March 1993, the High Court
gave its verdict in favour of the petitioners.
The NA remains a neglected area with no university
or professional colleges. There is no industry and subsistence is largely on
tourism. While people from POK can emigrate, those from NA need an exit visa rarely
issued. According to one source adult franchise is also a distant dream in
the northern areas. No person or party can
call for self-determination even though the Pakistan government
has itself admitted to the courts that Northern Areas are not part of Pakistan.
In 1994 and 1999, Pakistan Federal
government announced reforms which included elections to the Northern
Areas Council. However these changes are cosmetic. A Pak commentator notes that
people of the northern areas are denied representation in the parliament
and unlike in the case of Kashmir, they are also denied a semblance of
self-government and have been forced to accept Islamabad's
hegemony.
The earliest sectarian clashes occurred in Chitral
in 1981 when a mob led by Maulana Ubaidullah stormed a hostel run by the
Aga Khan Foundation. A year later, Sunni-Shia clashes occurred in the area. The
Shias organized themselves under the Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Fiqah-e-Jaffariya (TNFJ). The
Ismailis and Noor Bakshis, though followers of the Fiqah-e-Jaffariya, were not
accepted into the fold of the former party. The two groups did
however play a balancing role in the area. The Aga Khan Foundation has been a
premier institution working for socio-economic development in the
region. The Aga Khan is reported to have commissioned a in-depth study of the
region. The study says poverty and economic deprivation have made the area a breeding
ground for sectarian militancy.The study also pointed to dangers that Ismailis
faced in the Chitral region. According to one Pakistani writer in
Chitral alone, about 10% Ismailis converted to sunnism, either out of financial
motives or to save their lives or escape the pressure of the social boycott
imposed on them by Maulana Ubaidullah's fatwa.
POK has also not been quiet in 1998-99.
Trends indicate an on-going power struggle on several issues. In June
98, a no-confidence motion was passed with more than two-thirds majority
in the POK Assembly against the Speaker Raja Mumtaz Hussain Rathore chairman
of People's Party (N) and Raja Assar Ahmad Abbasi. The latter being
the Deputy Speaker in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative
Assembly. Actually Rathore had alleged that the POK government was corrupt and
he sought change of the present govt. under Sultan Mahmud.
And towards the end of June 1998 came news
that AJK Assembly debating the 1998-99 fiscal budget came down heavily on the
government for not coming up to the expectations of the people and for not fulfilling its
commitments to resolve their problems and grievances.
Opposition party Amir Jamaat-e-Islami Azad Kashmir
leader Abdul Rashid Turabi criticized the AJK government and said that
corruption culture had developed in the area and funds were being misused. The Minister
for Forests Latif Akber demanded that the Pakistan government pay the royalty for
the Mangla dam to the AJK government and shares in the income of the
state's property in Pakistan.
Columnist Fahid Husain paints a picture of
POK that speaks two voices. At one level he writes of migration from POK due
to lack of employment opportunity. Second, is problems of
development, but high levels of community participation in development.
Also of note is mention of the fact that POK has little income generation of its
own, most of the revenue coming from Pakistan.
Two societal problems remain and are on the
increase. There is corruption in the top echelons of POK government and
society and there is a timber mafia that is rapidly denuding the area of its
forest cover. Where does that leave the area?
Politicians still have to take an oath of
allegiance to Kashmir's accession to Pakistan. They have to sign a declaration
that Kashmir is part of Pakistan. And no Prime Minister or minister in POK can
assume office unless a similar oath is taken. All high ranking officials are
appointed directly from Pakistan. These facts must be highlighted to show the
control that Islamabad exercises over POK. Under Art. 32 of the
interim constitution, the Legislative Assembly cannot make any laws relating to
defence and security of the area, currency, external affairs and trade.
It is worth noting that while Jammu
and Kashmir on the Indian side has a special provision in the Indian
constitution, Art. 370 to protect the interests of the state and its people, there is no
such thing in POK or in the Northern Areas. India has held democratic
elections in the state on several occasions. This has hardly
occurred in either POK or NA. The people in Northern Areas are neglected and ruled with a
firm hand by the Pakistan government.
The Northern Light Infantry
During the 1880's after the annexation of the
North West Frontier Province the British raised local tribal units to manage
the region. These were Pakistan militia and scout units, which were employed in
the front and on the flanks for gathering information and protection.
Later the role of these units was
changed to picqueting and guarding of routes well before the main military
force could be deployed. At the time of the creation of Pakistan in 1947, the
militia and scouts were gradually organised and equipped with modern weapons.
At this time, the area had the Karakoram Scouts
with HQ at Skardu in Baltistan. The Northern Scouts with HQ at
Gilgit. And the Gilgit Scouts also with HQ at Gilgit. In 1973 all
these units were reorganised as the Northern Light Infantry (NLI) battalions.
A 1993 study of the Pak army showed the recruitment to the NLI from Gilgit 55%,
from Baltistan 35% and from other regions 10%. The ethnic composition of the NLI
battalions shows they consist of 18% Sunnis, 49% Shias, 23% are Ismailees and 10%
are Noor Bakshis.The NLI are actually special troops, trained in
anti-heliborne, commando operations and snow warfare. The commando trained
personnel are also deputed to the Special Service Group (SSG).
The Kargil operation was planned and
executed by the Pakistan army. It had been planned several years ahead, but
its final shape was given by Gen Musharaff and his Chief of General Staff, Lt Gen
Mohd Aziz Khan. Also involved were the Force Commander Northern Areas (FCNA) and the
GOC 10 Corps, under whom the NLI was operational. HQ FCNA has under its command four
infantry brigades, 32, 60, 80 and 323. To keep the operation secret and to make use of the
special training of the forces in the area, the NLI was chosen for the task of
intrusion and occupation of heights of Kargil.
In order to further strengthen security, the NA
were placed under the operational control of the Pak Army. This prevented
media teams and others from asking too many questions. The main aim of the
employment of the NLI was secrecy, expertise in this mission and to prevent any
backlash of failure reaching the Punjabi heartland. These troops stiffened by
Special Services Group (SSG) companies organised the intrusion backed by
logistic support from the Mujahideen in POK. Military estimates put this
figure as 2,000. Of the NLI battalions who were active in Kargil, 3th, 4th,
5th, 6th, 8th, 11th and 12th.
The enemy when initially infiltrated
had plans to occupy and stay. And then the purpose was to
interdict the Srinagar-Leh road. Once the Indian army and air
force reacted to the incursions, it became difficult for Pakistan to
hide the facts. The soldiers of the NLI fought well, and as they were
placed on the ridgelines in well entrenched positions they could and did launch
counter-attacks when their main positions were taken. Leadership was poor and
logistic supply being difficult, morale dipped in the pockets of intrusion once
India put the pressure on. Radio intercepts often spoke of the low rations and
morale, but the Pak troops managed to get reinforcements from areas which the Indian
troops were unable to seal.
It was only after the decision to withdraw was
taken, was it possible for the NLI troops to return across the LOC. But
even for this they had come prepared. The withdrawing forces planted thousands
of landmines across the path, to prevent the forward movement of
Indian forces. This has led to large number of casualties for the army who have had to
clear virtually every inch of the ground. The fact of the matter is that Pakistan
succeeded in tactically gaining ground in this operation but failed to gain strategically.
Once the intrusion was discovered the choice before Pakistan was to either withdraw
or to stay and fight. The latter they chose to do but without apparent plans to force
the issue.
The Northern Areas thus suddenly came under the
limelight and it witnessed the visits of Pak army chief and prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
Both promised major sops to the people and to the men of the NLI. Monetary packages
as also infrastructural development were announced with much fanfare.
It was also announced that every dead soldier of the NLI would get a
compensation of $10,000 while the families of officers would be given a
plot of land in any place of their choice in Pakistan. This was clearly a move to
reduce the resentment building up within the NA.
In fact, interrogation of the soldiers taken
prisoner by the Indian Army during OP Vijay in Kargil show that NLI personnel
resented the fact that they were being used as cannon fodder by the Pak Punjabi musalman.
The varied ethnic composition of the NLI provides us now with
some clues about the variety of linguistic groups found in the
intercepted radio conversations. The employment of the NLI served Pakistan's interest,
both in terms of operational secrecy and for the specialised training and equipment of the
NLI.
Recent Events
The Kargil situation brought home the fact
that Northern Areas were not being treated on par with the rest of Pakistan.
The Pak military took over Gilgit and Baltistan. The fear of a popular uprising for
the restoration of basic rights prompted Islamabad to remove civlian rule.
In fact in a significant development in May this
year the Supreme Court in Pakistan directed Islamabad to make the necessary amendments
to the constitution to ensure that people of the Northern Areas enjoyed their
fundamental rights of ogverned through their chosen representatives and to have access to
justice through an independent judiciary. The SC directed that this action be undertaken
within six months.
The situation in NA was also reflected in a
letter written by a Senior Superintendent of Police Amir Hamza, posted in Gilgit to
Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General. In it he compares the present conditions
in the areas as being worse than that of the East India company. Additionally, he
lists several areas in which Kashmir on the other side of the LOC was much better off. The
police officer picked on evidence from an official statement in the Pakistani
supreme court, which says that Parliament "has by law yet to admit into the
federation Northern Areas on such terms and conditions as it thinks fit."
The post-Kargil environment in the Northern Areas
witnessed local uprisings against the Mujahideen who had retreated from Kargil.
Clashes between locals and militants belonging to the Lashkar-e-Toiba in Skardu in
August 1999 led to clamping down by the army. Similar disturbances were also
reported from Shigar, North East of Skardu and Rondu, west of Skardu on the
Skardu-Gilgit road.
Locals met with the 62 Brigade Commander and other
local police officials, demanded that all the remaining militants in the city be removed
within 24 hours. The cause of the unrest was the bitterness of the people
of the Northern Areas about the militants getting all the credit for doing nothing while
the NLI took heavy casualties. The local people made so many sacrifices but could not
appreciate that the army was disguising themselves as militants during the Kargil crisis
and paying them also.
The fact remains that focus on the NA has
increased due to Kargil, both in Pakistan and outside it. There is an
important lesson for India. It is for India to explain to the world how the people
of the region live, in comparison to which the state of Jammu and Kashmir is
better off and its people, though plagued by insurgency do manage to make a living for
themselves.
Dr.Kasturi is currently Defence Editor with the Deccan Herald newspaper. He has been a
visiting fellow at the Stimson Center and is a former editor of the Indian Defence Review
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