The Article 370 instrumentalised deprivation, tyranny, and subjection of the people of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh. This temporary provision in the Indian constitution not only enforced apartheid on the non-Muslims but also discriminated against Muslim residents who spoke languages other than Kashmiri.
For decades, Kashmiri leaders denied Ladakh’s most fundamental rights, including a functioning administrative division and commissionerate. The elimination of Article 370 amounted to the gift of not only a division, but also an autonomous Union Territory. Ladakhis now obtain funds from the central government and prioritise development goals without having to wait for handouts from Srinagar. In the absence of Article 370, Ladakhis can achieve equitable rural development for far-flung communities, particularly in valleys along the Line of Actual Control. With Article 370 gone, the Hill Councils and Panchayats of Ladakh, Poonch, and Chenab have fiscal autonomy and legislative power.
Its abolition has come as a gift for female members of the society with improved gender equity and freedom to choose life partners and claim inheritance. Its termination has helped to expose massive fraud in the system, including recruiting, revenue distribution, tax collection, and property acquisition. Its withdrawal also meant the end of official funding for Kashmiri extremist and separatist organizations.
However, the most significant effect of removing this article is that it deprives the Pakistani army of their strategic veto over India under the pretense of fighting for the rights and liberties of Kashmiris. The Pakistani military can no longer impose its will on India and wage unchecked terrorism without serious consequences.
Outsiders may find it hypocritical that many people in POJK celebrate the repeal of Article 370 in Indian Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh while still advocating for the return of State Subject Rule in Gilgit-Baltistan as it existed before the Pakistani invasion.
In their defence, the Indian constitution guarantees the protection of lands and cultures across all states and regions. However, these fundamental rights must be preserved and promoted without granting the Pakistani military a veto over Kashmir.
Pakistan is an occupier with no locus standi regarding Kashmir’s accession. Its sole duty is to withdraw from the entire POJK, including Gilgit Baltistan, and allow the inhabitants to handle their affairs with the Indian government.
The British constitutional stipulations for India’s partition, which were irrevocable and obligatory on all subjects, granted legal authority to the Maharaja of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh to merge his State with India. If Islamabad wishes to contest Maharaja’s decision according to popular will, then decisions of all those princely rulers who merged their States with Pakistan should be scrutinised and verified in the same manner. Let the United Nations ask the people of Khairpur, Kalat, Kharan, Lasbela, Bahawalpur, Swat, Amb, Dir, and Chitral whether they wish to live under Punjabi apartheid in a bankrupt de facto military-ruled Pakistan.
The repeal of Article 370 has understandably enraged Pakistan’s ruling establishment, as it mirrors their own apartheid system, which favors Punjabi preferential treatment and supremacy over minorities, including Sindhis, Baloch, and Pashtuns.
The Pakistani constitution safeguards the interests and authority of the Punjabi establishment to seize property, revenues, and rights from the Baloch, Sindhis, and Pashtuns at whim. For instance, the Baloch, Sindhi, and Pashtun do not have a first-right-of-use statute when it comes to indigenous natural resources. While the entire Punjab benefits from Balochistan’s gas supplies for heating and cooking, the Baloch still have to subsist on firewood and cattle dung to prepare meals. In contrast, the Punjab government can cut off wheat supply to minority provinces at any time, effectivelyu utilizing food security as a strategic weapon to control and coerce non-Punjabi ethnic groups.
The Punjabi establishment also prohibits the use and teaching of native languages in schools. As was the case in Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh before the repeal of Article 370, an alien language from central India known as Urdu is forced on every Pakistani for the sake of maintaining Islamic identity.
Gilgit-Baltistan is a constitutional part of India but, due to Pakistan’s illegitimate occupation, its inhabitants neither benefit from Indian laws nor are they able to enact and design their own laws for development and security.
In exchange for crumbs, Pakistan steals billions of dollars in natural resources from Gilgit-Baltistan. All profits from cross-border trade, river royalties, and exploitation of local forests, minerals, and marble end up in Islamabad. The Punjabi rulers forbid locals from mining and marketing precious gemstones and medicinal herbs, and force them to watch helplessly as foreigners profit from the earnings.
In an astonishing admission, the chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan recently stated that the yearly development budget of Gilgit-Baltistan, a territory far larger than the Indian state of Haryana, is only 20 billion rupees. When converted into Indian currency, it is less than 7 billion rupees, which is hardly sufficient to construct a decent-sized school building or bridge.
The state-sponsored Shia massacres have consumed tens of thousands of lives in the past 78 years. Currently, an unknown number of Shias are serving prison sentences for blasphemy, with many awaiting execution. Those who protest economic slavery and genocide are imprisoned on charges of terrorism and treason. Local courageous political activists, notably Nusrat Hussain, Mir Babar, and Muhammad Shakir, continue to confront governmental oppression and violence.
Javed Naji, the deputy chairperson of the Awami Action Committee, was assassinated not long ago because he had emerged as a forceful voice of resistance against Pakistani savagery in the Diamer area. Diamer is where Pakistan and China have illegally taken tens of thousands of acres of local land to construct the Basha Mega Dam. This is dubbed as the world’s largest roller-compacted concrete (RCC) dam under development. Naji, with a significant following, had planned to run for the 2026 assembly election. He advocated for Shia-Sunni unity and sought the removal of foreigners, including Pakistanis, from Gilgit-Baltistan.
Yet, locals no longer fear Pakistan’s brutal occupiers. People are more alert and unified than ever before, thanks to social media, and they openly protest and valiantly face the charging paramilitary personnel in their neighborhoods. Furthermore, Islamic terrorists like Ghazi Maqbool, Ghazi Shehzad, and Khalid Kashmiri that Pakistan deployed against India for decades, have turned against the Pakistani ISI to expose atrocities against Kashmiris.
All these matters can be addressed and resolved if Gilgit-Baltistan returns to India, where its inhabitants will be greeted with love, respect, dignity, and equal citizenship.
The indigenous cultures and languages of Gilgit-Baltistan, as is the case in Ladakh, will receive constitutional protection. The robbery of local lands will come to an end, ensuring equal treatment in development. Tthe state-led genocide of Shias will also come to an end, and no one will be imprisoned or executed for blasphemy.
With Article 370 repealed, locals expect India to take concrete actions to liberate POJK. There are 56 Muslim countries in the world, yet none of them stand with the people of Gilgit-Baltistan and the POJK in their efforts to expose Pakistani occupation. Given current conditions, the Indian government should step forward to advocate for its citizens in occupied territories and assist them in their fight against Pakistan.
It is time for POJK residents to be represented in the political institutions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, as well as in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. POJK activists who travel the world to expose Pakistani atrocities and strengthen their legal relationship with India will be greeted with respect and seriousness if they appear as members of Indian constitutional bodies. Protection under the Indian constitution will provide them with the legitimacy they deserve for their bravery and sacrifice.
In the meantime, the Indian Home Ministry should create a special category known as Indian Citizens in Occupied Areas. Under this provision, people from POJK should not need a visa to enter India, or if a visa is required, the terms and restrictions could be simplified.
On Vijay Diwas, we, the area’s residents wish to remind India of its constitutional obligations to Gilgit-Baltistan. If India plans to combat terrorism, the Pakistani presence in Gilgit Baltistan is a serious terrorist threat that it must defeat.
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