ISLAMABAD: The Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly unanimously adopted a joint resolution on Tuesday, requesting Prime Minister Imran Khan and the federal government to grant provisional provincial status to the northern area and provide suitable representation to it in the country’s parliament and other state institutions.
The resolution was moved by Chief Minister Khalid Khurshid Khan in the third session of the assembly. He was supported by various opposition politicians.
The Gilgit-Baltistan assembly asked the government to table a constitutional amendment bill for that purpose and get it approved by parliament.
It said the bill should be drafted in a way that it should uphold Pakistan’s “principled stance” on the Kashmir issue, adding that the people of Gilgit-Baltistan would “continue to render moral and political support” to the residents of Indian-administered Kashmir.
Pakistan granted political autonomy to the region in 1999 and allowed it to have a legislative assembly but Pakistani governments have been reluctant to declare it a fifth province. The Supreme Court declared the residents of Gilgit-Baltistan as Pakistani citizens in May 1999 and instructed the government to ensure their constitutional and fundamental rights.
GB locals fought pro-India forces and opted to join Pakistan in 1948. But since then Gilgit-Baltistan has not been granted full inclusion by the Pakistani constitution over fears doing so would jeopardize Islamabad’s international stance that all of Kashmir is disputed territory.
The local assembly has few powers. Pakistan’s National Assembly and Senate have no representation from Gilgit-Baltistan, and the region receives only a fraction of the national budget.
Gilgit-Baltistan assembly adopts unanimous resolution demanding provisional provincial status
https://arab.news/cymf2
Gilgit-Baltistan assembly adopts unanimous resolution demanding provisional provincial status
- GB has never been granted full inclusion by Pakistan over fears it would jeopardize Islamabad’s stance that all of Kashmir is disputed territory
- The Gilgit-Baltistan local assembly has few powers, National Assembly and Senate have no representation from the northern region
Sindh assembly passes resolution rejecting move to separate Karachi
- Chief Minister Shah cites constitutional safeguards against altering provincial boundaries
- Calls to separate Karachi intensified amid governance concerns after a mall fire last month
ISLAMABAD: The provincial assembly of Pakistan’s southern Sindh province on Saturday passed a resolution rejecting any move to separate Karachi, declaring its territorial integrity “non-negotiable” amid political calls to carve the city out as a separate administrative unit.
The resolution comes after fresh demands by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and other voices to grant Karachi provincial or federal status following governance challenges highlighted by the deadly Gul Plaza fire earlier this year that killed 80 people.
Karachi, Pakistan’s largest and most densely populated city, is the country’s main commercial hub and contributes a significant share to the national economy.
Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah tabled the resolution in the assembly, condemning what he described as “divisive statements” about breaking up Sindh or detaching Karachi.
“The province that played a foundational role in the creation of Pakistan cannot allow the fragmentation of its own historic homeland,” Shah told lawmakers, adding that any attempt to divide Sindh or separate Karachi was contrary to the constitution and democratic norms.
Citing Article 239 of Pakistan’s 1973 Constitution, which requires the consent of not less than two-thirds of a provincial assembly to alter provincial boundaries, Shah said any such move could not proceed without the assembly’s approval.
“If any such move is attempted, it is this Assembly — by a two-thirds majority — that will decide,” he said.
The resolution reaffirmed that Karachi would “forever remain” an integral part of Sindh and directed the provincial government to forward the motion to the president, prime minister and parliamentary leadership for record.
Shah said the resolution was not aimed at anyone but referred to the shifting stance of MQM in the debate while warning that opposing the resolution would amount to supporting the division of Sindh.
The party has been a major political force in Karachi with a significant vote bank in the city and has frequently criticized Shah’s provincial administration over its governance of Pakistan’s largest metropolis.
Taha Ahmed Khan, a senior MQM leader, acknowledged that his party had “presented its demand openly on television channels with clear and logical arguments” to separate Karachi from Sindh.
“It is a purely constitutional debate,” he told Arab News by phone. “We are aware that the Pakistan Peoples Party, which rules the province, holds a two-thirds majority and that a new province cannot be created at this stage. But that does not mean new provinces can never be formed.”
Calls to alter Karachi’s status have periodically surfaced amid longstanding complaints over governance, infrastructure and administrative control in the megacity, though no formal proposal to redraw provincial boundaries has been introduced at the federal level.
