IJGR 11,1-2_ f7-186-228 7/28/04 7:17 AM Page 187
International Journal on Minority and Group Rights 11: 187–228, 2004. 187 © Koninklijke Brill NV. Printed in the Netherlands.
Of Rivers and Human Rights: The Northern Areas, Pakistan’s Forgotten Colony in Jammu and Kashmir
ANITA D. RAMAN*
Following armed hostilities in 1947–1949 between India and Pakistan and inter- vention by the international community, the region once known as the Princely State of Jammu & Kashmir was divided. Commencing no later than October 1947, the Kashmir dispute has proved the most protracted territorial dispute in the United Nations era. Since the termination of hostilities and the signing of the Karachi Agreement of August 1949 between India and Pakistan, approximately one third of the former Princely State has been under the de facto control of Pakistan. The Northern Areas constitute the majority of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, and little is known regarding internal governance in the region. Despite its long- held position that the entirety of the former Princely State is disputed territory, the Federation of Pakistan has recently commenced steps to incorporate the region as the ‘fifth province’ of Pakistan. Section I of this note outlines the his- tory of the use of force in and occupation of the former Princely State, focusing on the internal administrative setup of the region following 1948. Section II looks to the concept of nationhood in order to assess whether the residents of the Northern Areas are a people within the meaning of international law on the right of self-determination and proposes a possible way forward in the assessment of the will of the peoples of the region.
1. Introduction
‘It is not true that there are some good colons and others who are wicked. There are colons and that is it.’1
Since November 1947, when the Gilgit Scouts rose in rebellion against the Maharaja of the Princely State of Jammu & Kashmir, a nationalist independence movement had been building in the districts of Gilgit and Baltistan, known from
∗ The author would like to thank David Golove, Iqbal Ishar and Samuel Estreicher of the NYU School of Law for their insight and comments. Any views or opinions directly or indirectly expressed herein are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the views of Kirkland & Ellis LLP or its clients. 1 J. Sartre, Colonialism and Neocolonialism (A. Haddour et al. translators) (Routledge, London, 2001) p. 32. IJGR 11,1-2_ f7-186-228 7/28/04 7:17 AM Page 188
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an administrative perspective as the ‘Northern Areas’ of Pakistan and in their internal ethno-nationalist dialogue alternatively as Balawaristan, Boloristan, Gilgit-Baltistan or Karakoram.2 The region covers 72,500 square kilometres in the northeast of Pakistan, and once comprised the northwest sector of the Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir.3 The Northern Areas, along with the nar- row territory immediately adjoining the line of control, known as Azad Jammu and Kashmir, are the parts of the former Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir now under the de facto control of Pakistan. Collectively known as the Balawar, the two million people of the Northern Areas traditionally were and continue to be comprised of ethnic and sectarian groups that are minorities in the State of Pakistan.4 In a historic and contempo- rary sense, these peoples can be considered to be the indigenous peoples of the districts of Gilgit and Baltistan They are generally ethnically Balti persons belonging to Ismaili, Noor Bakshi and various Shiite sects within the Islamic faith.5 While many Balawar speak Urdu, Pakistan’s national language, for most it is secondary to local dialects. They have few ethnic, historic, or linguistic ties to the peoples of the neighbouring regions of Jammu, Kashmir, or Punjab, though the Balti people are ethnically similar to the Buddhists in Ladakh (controlled by India).6 While the indigenous people of the region share common ethnic, linguistic, cultural and social ties and structures, population transfers encouraged by the government of Pakistan have resulted in a significant demographic flux. At the time of independence the overwhelming majority of the residents of the Northern Areas were Shia, but in recent decades, large settler communities of Punjabi and Pakhtoon Sunnis have become established in the region, encouraged by the increasing accessibility and development of the region and by government poli- cies facilitating resettlement. The populations of the two sects are now believed to be in rough balance. Throughout this paper, the term ‘Balawar’ is used to refer to the original, indigenous inhabitants of the region and excludes more recent arrivals who are full citizens of Pakistan. The extent and significance of diver- sity in the Northern Areas is difficult to assess absent regular census-taking or
2 See M. Sökefeld, ‘Balawaristan and Other Imaginations: A Nationalist Discourse in the Northern Areas of Pakistan’ in M. van Beek et al. (eds.), Ladakh: Culture, History, and Development between Himalaya and Karakoram (Aarhus University Press, Aarhus, 1999) p. 354. As the paper analyzes the claims of mistreatment and disenfranchisement asserted primarily by the Boloristan and Balawaristan movements, Balawaristan and Balawar will be used throughout when referring to the ‘nation’ and its people. 3 See F. Ali, ‘In Search of Identity’ in ‘A Journey to the North: Special Feature’, The Dawn − Internet Edition,