ISLAMABAD – Gilgit Baltistan Governor Raja Jalal Hussain Maqpoon hassuggested the federal government to make GB provisionally as specialprovince.
He has recommended to make amendments in Article 257 of the constitution togive fundamental rights to millions of people in GB without harming thecountry’s international obligations regarding the Kashmir dispute.
The governor has suggested addition of Article 257-A, which may read as,“Temporary provisions with respect to the territory of Gilgit-Baltistan(GB) in this constitution, (i) the territory of GB shall be provisionally aspecial province pending final settlement of Jammu and Kashmir dispute,(ii) the provision of Article 1 of the constitution and of this articleshall apply in relation to the territories of Pakistan, and (iii) such ofother provisions of this constitution shall apply in relation to theterritories mentioned in article 1 (2) (a), pending final resolution of theJammu and Kashmir dispute.”
The federal government had recently constituted a high-level committee toexamine the constitutional, administrative and governance reforms for GBand to review the “Government of Gilgit-Baltistan Order, 2018” in the light.
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As per GB governor’s suggestion, the amendment in constitution would be thebest way forward to implement the historical judgment of the apex courtreported in 1999 SCMR1379 titled “AlJahad trust versus Federation ofPakistan”; and being of provisional nature, it would have no prejudicialeffect on the stance taken by Pakistan on the Kashmir issue in the light ofUN Resolutions.