China’s New Silk Road: What’s in it for Gilgit-Baltistan?

2,000 KM long PCEC would shorten the route for China's energy imports, bypassing the Straits of Malacca between Malaysia and Indonesia, a bottleneck at risk of blockade in wartime.

In the history of Gilgit-Baltistan, there have been some historical events and transformational incidents that have had far-reaching impacts on the socio-economic development of Gilgit-Baltistan. These include war of independence against Dogra Raj in 1947, advent of Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) in 1946, abolishment of State Subject Rule and principalities by introducing the regular civil administrative structure in GB in 1974 and construction of mighty Karakoram Highway (KKH) in 1978. Similarly in 1994, the PPP led federal government introduced Legal Framework Order giving GB limited authority over local affairs through an elected body. In 2009, the PPP led federal government promulgated an empowerment order that gave the region its distinct identity as Gilgit-Baltistan with a Governor and Chief Minister, making it seems like Pakistan’s fifth province.

Before 1978 Gilgit-Baltistan was cut off from the rest of the world and Pakistan due to harsh terrain and lack of accessible roads. Similarly, before abolishment of State Subject Rule by Z.A Bhutto and advent of AKDN in GB, all the socio-economic indicators including health and educational attainments and civic amenities were not accessible to all the GBian but selected few like  Mirs and Wazirs in Gilgit Agency, the Baltistan District of the Ladakh Wazarat and the hill states of Hunza and Nagar. The first three primary schools in the Northern Areas (now Gilgit-Baltistan) were established by the Political Agent in as early as1893 in Gilgit, Astore and Gupis. Until the year 1940s, the government was the sole provider of formal education in the Northern Areas that too was meant only to selected families. In 1946, the first 17 Aga Khan Diamond Jubilee Schools were established by the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), that can be cited as the first community intervention in the field of education in these areas. Before these DJ Schools there happens to be only one school under the name of Government Primary School in Karimabad Hunza which was established in 1912.

Now that when the Pakistan and People Republic of China have principally agreed and started work on China- Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a planned $46-billion network of roads, railways and energy projects linking Pakistan's deep-sea Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea with China's far-western Xinjiang region, it can easily infer that this package of projects will have transformational and game changing impacts on the Gilgit-Baltistan as it is going through this picturesque and geo-politically important region of Pakistan by opening new vistas of opportunities in regional trade and investment, micro enterprises development with special focus on transportation,  tourism, energy conservation and service sector.

As can be seen in the given map above, PCEC would shorten the route for China's energy imports, bypassing the Straits of Malacca between Malaysia and Indonesia, a bottleneck at risk of blockade in wartime. China has acknowledged that Gwadar’s strategic value is no less than that of the Karakoram Highway, which helped cement the China-Pakistan relationship. Beijing is also interested in turning it into an energy-transport hub by building an oil pipeline from Gwadar into China's Xinjiang region. The planned pipeline will carry crude oil sourced from Arab and African states. Such transport by pipeline will cut freight costs and also help insulate the Chinese imports from interdiction by hostile naval forces in case of any major war. This multi-purpose and multi-billion strategic interventions by Chines Government will also play a critical role in restoring the regional power balance that foreign policy experts say has tilted in favour of India after President Barack Obama’s trip to New Delhi.

It is befitting to note it here that in September 2013, President Xi Jinping proposed reviving the ancient trade routes connecting China, Central Asia and Europe. In the backdrop of this the control of Gwadar Port was given to China and an agreement was signed with China Overseas Ports Holding Co on May 16, 2013, to transfer operational rights from the Port Authority of Singapore.

China also considers opening the ports to Afghanistan and India once social stability can be ensured. After all, openness is the foundation of boosting trade. Similarly to become a transportation hub and China’s core area on the economic belt, the government has decided to develop three main corridors through southern, central and northern Xinjiang, which connects China with Russia, Europe and Pakistan. Work is also due to begin soon on the long-planned China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway. The region, which borders eight countries, also plans to open three new land ports to Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Russia. While on our side, 26 sites for establishment of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) have been identified in Punjab, Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan for potential investor along the China-Pak Corridor.

26 Special Economic Zones (SEZs) have been identified in rout to PCEC

Irrespective of rout alignment in other provinces of Pakistan, all the routes of CPEC will be going through GB via Khunjarab pass to China. Isn't it an irony that Pakistan is continuously exploiting our region's resources without giving us any place in the decision-making process at Federal level? We, the people of GB, are not party to any of the 51 accords signed between Pak and China. GB being a UN recognized disputed region deserves a better deal and a concrete legal and constitutional safeguard against the corporations and the governments involved. It is expected that our pleas will not fall on deaf ears and that our reservations will be addressed at the earliest under the already formed Sartaj Aziz Commission on GB.

Not taking the GB region's people into confidence, and not ensuring the protection of their rights and interests will prove to be detrimental for the feasibility and viability of this important project. As you well know, GB is where the "bottle-neck", so to say, is located on this corridor. Therefore, it is vital to ensure that the bottle-neck doesn't cripple the potential of this corridor.

Before embarking on the CPEC project, it is imperative to ensure social and political liberties in Gilgit-Baltistan through constitutional measures and institutional rearrangements. Implementation of the CPEC without required political and legal guarantees makes the region vulnerable to exploitation by big businesses and apathetic decision-making bodies. If Pakistan continues with its ambiguous policy of keeping Gilgit-Baltistan in political limbo, it will ultimately harm its own interests.

Emerging Gawadar Deep Sea Port that will connect Pakistan via CPEC with Oil reach Middle East & Landlocked Central Asia.

PML-N has a majority in GBLA and Federal Government. It should understand that if the impending storm in GB is ignored further and political victimization of right activist like Baba Jan, a serious political movement may take birth that will not only disturb the peace in this highly sensitive area but will also compromise CPEC projects thereby putting at risk the dreams of a prosperous Pakistan. It will indeed be an epic tragedy, if the people of GB, having endured years of political shortchanging and disempowerment, finally lose their confidence in democratic solutions.

As Pakistan and China proceed with the project, an unintended, but vital, consequence could be the potential transformation in the character of Pakistani state itself. At present, security overshadows the development agenda. As China gains more leverage in the country’s decision-making structures, the development goals are likely to receive more traction within Pakistan’s civil and military establishment. The economy-centric agenda of political elites, supported by China, could, in the medium to long run, improve the civil-military imbalance.

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Hunza: A Paradise Of High Literacy And Gender Equality In a Remote Corner Of Pakistan

The Hunza Valley, a region in the Gilgit–Baltistan territory of northernmost Pakistan, is renowned not only for its spectacular natural scenery of majestic mountains and glittering lakes but also for the beauty of its people, who enjoy long life expectancies. The rough mountain terrain, clean air and water, an abundance of healthy organic foods like dried apricots and almonds, and relative isolation are believed to have blessed the locals with excellent health and long lives. Indeed, Hunza Valley was reportedly the inspiration for the paradise of "Shangri La" in the book "Lost Horizons" by James Hilton.

But Hunza and its environs are renowned for something else that is quite extraordinary: At least three-quarters of people in the Valley – and virtually all the youths of both genders -- can read and write (in a country where about 55 percent of the population is literate, and millions of girls are essentially blocked from attending school). Almost every child in Hunza attends school up to at least the high school level, while many pursue higher studies at colleges in Pakistan and abroad.

Outside of Hunza, education in Pakistan is rather bleak. In fact, Arshad Saeed Khan of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) said Pakistan spends only 2.3 percent of its GNP and 9.9 percent of its total government budget on education (versus figures of 4.5 percent and 12.7 percent, respectively, for India; and 2.1 percent and 14.1 percent for Bangladesh).

Dawn, an English-language Pakistani daily, reported that one of the principal factors behind Hunza's stupendous literacy figures traces back to the educational advocacy efforts of the Aga Khan III, Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah. In the early part of the 20th century, he persuaded the mirs [rulers] of Hunza state to educate their peoples. By 1946, 16 "Diamond Jubilee" schools were established in the Valley, followed by a decision from the Pakistani government to open up public schools in the Northern regions, including Hunza. In 1983, Prince Shah Karim Al Hussaini, Aga Khan IV, introduced The Academy, a high-quality school (including dormitory facilities) exclusively for girls in Hunza. By the early 1990s, the government created “community schools” in Hunza, including the Al-Amyn Model School in the village of Gulmit, which permitted the students' families to participate in lessons.

Dawn noted two other major developments in regional education gains: the establishment of the Karakoram University in Gilgit, and the founding of organizations by the Aga Khan dynasty that encourage universal education, training and scholarships. The present Aga Khan has also financed local agricultural and other economic endeavors through the Aga Khan Development Network. “There seems to be urgency in terms of acquiring education,” wrote Dr. Shahid Siddiqui, director of the Centre for Humanities and Social Sciences at the Lahore School of Economics, in an article in Dawn. “Parents in Hunza are convinced that the best thing they can do for their children is to help them get a good education. There is a growing interest in higher education for girls.”

Siddiqui explained that given the limited chances of higher education in the Valley, the boys and girls of Hunza go to large cities such as Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Islamabad for higher education. He also emphasized that parents in Hunza encourage their daughters to gain an education and are even willing to send girls to all parts of Pakistan to obtain a quality degree. “It is an approach that distinguishes Hunza from the rest of the Northern Areas,” he added.

Friday Times, an independent Pakistani newsweekly, described Hunza as “an oasis of education.” Janeha Hussain in the Times wrote that education and the attainment of knowledge are given top priority in the Valley. “Boys and girls alike approach their schooling with endearing exuberance,” Hussain wrote. “They can be seen walking along the roadside, lunchboxes swinging on their arms and books hugged closely to their chests.”

Even more extraordinary, Hussain indicated, the importance of education in this Valley has raised the status of women to equality with men. She cited that in Hunza (in stark contrast to virtually all other rural parts of Pakistan), “women and girls stroll the bazaars after dusk without male relatives, and no one dares to bat even an eyelash at them, let alone stare sleazily and make risqué comments as is tradition elsewhere.” Women have also become an “integral part” of the local economy, including those who weave Hunza's famous handicrafts.

Hunza differs from the rest of Pakistan in other ways too: The majority of the people there follow Shia Islam, and many are Ismaili Shia Muslims, followers of His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan. (Most other Pakistanis adhere to Sunni Islam). Also, although most people in Hunza understand Urdu, the national tongue of Pakistan, their primary languages comprise Shina, Burushaski, Wakhi among others.

Syed Irfan Ashraf, a Pakistani-based journalist, said in an interview that since the people of Hunza belong to a religious minority, education is their main support system that is required for social mobilization. “Luckily, the Aga Khan Foundation has done enough to set up an infrastructure of schools and colleges,” he said. “Otherwise, this part of the country would have been totally ignored.”

Muftah.org reported on a young 23-year-old woman from Hunza named Parveen, who boasts a post-graduate degree and works at an IT center in the village of Gulmit. In her data entry training class, boys and girls are in roughly equal numbers. “For them, earning a paycheck at the IT center by working online with computers, doing data entry, and generating content for e-commerce portals, is a big step up from tilling the land,” wrote Maria Umar, founder and president of the Digital League. “Earning roughly $100 per month through this work is a welcome change for Parveen -- one never before imaginable in her town, or more generally in Pakistan, which has the lowest GDP per capita for women in South Asia.”

However, Umar cautioned that not everything shines brightly in Hunza. For while literacy sparkles, jobs are scarce – she estimated that some 90 percent of Hunza’s educated population is unemployed. “With each household averaging eight people, only male household members typically earn an income,” she wrote. “The largely unemployed female population works in the fields or helps with household work.”

One answer to the immense unemployment may lie with IT endeavors like the one Parveen works at. Now, hundreds of well-educated young Hunza residents are involved in IT centers, many of which are funded by foreign NGOs, studying e-marketing, e-accounting, content writing, programming, foreign exchange MARKET TRADING and web design. It is hoped these courses will lead to gainful jobs, both online and offline. Indeed, Umar indicated that Pakistan is a leader in online work, ranking fourth in skills on a list of 158 countries and third in total earnings. “This alone speaks to the talent in the country,” she said. “Women are at the forefront of this surge. Online work is transforming the role of women across Pakistan and offering opportunities for them in IT and beyond.”

Although some of the remote mountainous regions of northern and northwestern Pakistan have been scarred by militant fundamentalism and terrorism, Hunza has largely avoided such associations. Ashraf explained that groups like the Taliban or Lashkar-e-Taiba do not have strong presence in Hunza, but he contended that such militants do exist in the nearby Gilgit and Chilas regions and could potentially reach the Valley to disrupt the law-and-order situation there. “But people in Hunza valley are peace-loving [and] usually avoid becoming part of any extremist ideology,” Ashraf said. “Similarly, they have so far successfully discouraged extremist religious groups from spreading their influence to Hunza.”

Nonetheless, the sheer image and reputation of northern Pakistan as a haven for militancy and sectarian violence has severely hurt the key tourism industry in Hunza in recent years. “Hunza people earns from international tourism, not local tourism,” Ashraf stated. “Therefore, terrorism in other parts of Pakistan is suicidal for international tourism in the northern part of the country.”

One of the most famous of all young Pakistani women, Samina Baig, who has become an icon of sorts after climbing the highest mountains around the world, including the tallest peak of all, Mount Everest, hails from Hunza. Baig, only 21 years old, wants to use her fame to promote human rights and education for women in Pakistan. “I want to tell women in developing countries that they are as powerful as their male counterparts and they can play an equal role in their respective societies,” Samina told Agence France Presse. Speaking of her native Hunza, she gushed: “a girl child has as equal rights as their male counterparts and our community does everything to educate female children.”

Indeed, she said she was shocked by how different the rest of Pakistan seems from her beloved far northern Valley. “When I came to the city for the first time, I saw a completely different world, where people are less educated, poverty is widespread and [the] female is a non-existent species compared to their male counterparts” she lamented. “But in my community, women are as important as males and they are playing an equal role in the society.”

Courtesy by: palash-ghosh
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Peaceful Elections in Peaceful Gilgit-Baltistan Concluded

Now that when the GBLA elections have been came into a peaceful end today, I would like to extend my heartiest congrats to all the GBians for establishing a worth following example by showing overwhelming response and demonstration of democratic norms & values by peacefully casting your votes in peaceful Gilgit-baltistan. Irrespective of who wins and who losses in final results, GBians have won the hearts and minds of all the people of Pakistan in general and GBians around the world in particular. The way our youth, our proud mothers and sisters participated in election campaigns by leading from the front was outstanding. The way our people have spoken on local issues having national & international consequences and the way candidates listen to each other in public forums like "the Great Debate-2015" in Hunza and "Why we vote for you" in Baltistan were highly commendable. I have deeply been touched by the way our mothers and sisters participated throughout election process from resource mobilization to community mobilization & processions leading and public speeches.

At the same time a by-election was also going on in Mandi Bahwuddin district of Punjab. But the way the said by-election has came into end in Punjab and the way elections have been came into end in GB have vehemently sent a clear message to hatemongers that we GBians are peace loving people who are completely aware about the power of vote in any government that is meant to people by the people for the people. Today's election in GB have also indicates that there is direct relationship between education ratio and peace as there haven't been witnessed any  unpleasant event, let alone politically motivated killing of rival parties, unlike other parts of Pakistan.

Congrats to all the winning candidates and their supporters. My appreciation also goes to those who didn't make it to GBLA. Today GBians have once more shown it that GBian are the most civilized, peaceful and highly educated people of Pakistan. Let's forgive and forget if we have been somewhat emotional at any stage of election process and move ahead for the development of GB. Now is the time to look forward and work together in the leadership of winning candidates of our respective constituencies to promote our shared goals for a prosperous Gilgit-Baltistan. We have a lot more on stake due to grate game in our region, deprivation of our  political rights and China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that is to go through Gilgit-Baltistan.

Astonishing Places You Wouldn’t Believe Are In Pakistan

Pakistan, home to a population of almost 200 million people, rich in culture and exotic places for tourism has faded under the dark clouds of terrorism and other mind-numbing concerns. However, let’s for once not highlight our slip-ups and focus on the brighter side of things. These exotic destinations will make you want to pack your bags and leave immediately.

http://www.dardistantimes.com/pakistan/News/2133637675/17-astonishing-places-you-wouldn-t-believe-are-pakistan

http://www.dawn.com/news/1185956/wiki-loves-earth-top-10-pictures-from-pakistan