Indian Defence Review

Diamer-Bhasha Dam: A symbol of exploitation

Stuck with a power situation that is getting worse by the day and a public impatient to see him fulfil his poll promise, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is getting impatient. He has launched an all out campaign for generation of more power. Prominent on his ‘to do’ list is revival of the mammoth Diamer-Bhasha Dam project. There is ample reason for his eagerness to get the project moving. The dam on the River Indus to be situated near a place called “Bhasha” in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Diamer district, promises 4,500 MW of electricity and 8.5 million acres feet of water that can be channelised for irrigation.

In January 2006, the Government of Pakistan announced construction of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam with an astounding price tag of over US $ 8.5 billion. The World Bank, however, linked construction of the Dam to a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from India since the area is under dispute between the two countries. Pakistan knew that no such certificate would be forthcoming.

There is huge public protest against the project for which there is ample reason since the villages and farms of over 35,000 people will disappear should the project see the light of day. The affected people are demanding a compensation package of Rs. 300,000/- per household, a separate area in Islamabad for resettlement, a share of the royalties and resolution of the border dispute between Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The previous government was nowhere near meeting these demands.

The inhabitants of the area, exploited and subjugated by Pakistan at the best of times, are absolutely certain of getting a raw deal from the entire process. The locals say openly that the construction would generate power for the rulers and leave the region in darkness. There has been wave after wave of protests to the extent that in February, 2010, Police resorted to firing on protesters in which two persons died.

Then there are other issues involved; the project is to be located in a mountainous, earthquake-prone area. There are historically significant rock carvings on both sides of River Indus near Chilas that date back to prehistoric times; the most recent ones testify the Islamisation of the region in the 14th century. Tens of thousands of these thousands of years old rock carvings will vanish.

Another important point that needs emphasis is that the project, after an eight-year construction period, would provide only 4500 MW of electricity for the national grid. This is not enough to address the requirement of half of Pakistan’s population (around 80 million people) that has no access to power at all. A costly project like Diamer-Bhasha can only benefit industries and wealthy Pakistanis. The lives of the common people in the 40,000 villages in Pakistan will not change.

Pakistan’s occupation of Gilgit-Baltistan is illegal and forceful. Nevertheless, the question of political status can be dealt with separately. The most important and immediate requirement is to ensure that the people can lead a normal, dignified life. Pressure has to be built on Pakistan to cease its blatant exploitation of the region and also put a lid on China’s greedy ambitions. Pakistan has to be prevailed upon to restore political rights of the people, release all political prisoners, grant freedom of press and create local autonomous governing bodies. Restoration of people to people ties in the contiguous regions of Ladakh and Kargil and opening of trade and transit routes also needs to be pushed.

Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK)

On the other side of the LoC between India and Pakistan there lies the other J&K, PoK, which is falsely and ironically called “Azad (Independent) Kashmir” by Pakistan, despite an international understanding that the same is under dispute between India and Pakistan. Since 1948, it has since been ruled through proxy by the Government of Pakistan, its lent officers and its secret agencies.

In PoK, every action of the civilians is scrutinised by the hawk-eyed army and the all powerful Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). This is because the entire administration is in the hands of the Pakistan army. The army runs the schools, the water department, the power stations, and the transport. Mohammed Mumtaz Khan, a senior leader from Rawalakote has gone on record to state, “Pakistani army is using PoK as a training camp for terrorists, as for development, the area lags behind J&K by ages, where development had moved at almost the same pace as that of other cities in India.” In PoK, no freedom is granted to the media, in fact there is no media at all. Whatever public opinion is there gets squashed immediately. There is no way you can go out and hold a protest march since an action of this nature invites retaliation with firing by troops

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has opined that people in PoK have suffered gross violations of their rights, from being continuously ‘watched and monitored’ by Pakistan’s ISI to denial of basic fundamental rights including access to judiciary and fair trial. As per HRCP, “People feel that their political rights have been infringed under the guise of the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, which prohibits activities that are prejudicial to public safety.”

Presently, there is no semblance of a Nation State in the geographic area which passes off as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. In this turmoil the biggest victim are the people of PoK and Northern Areas who are undergoing rampant colonisation. The residents of PoK lack a constitutional status in Pakistan even more so than the Mohajirs, the Balochis, the Pashtuns and the Sindhis who are now in open revolt against the government seen to be Punjabi (Army) dominant. To make matters worse blatant settlement of Punjabi Muslims and Pathans in the area is putting a severe strain on the demographic pattern though this is not as bad as the situation in Gilgit-Baltistan.

The elections held in PoK on June, 2011, followed by installation of a puppet government, has laid the framework of continued exploitation in the long run. With the swearing in of Sardar Mohammad Yaqub Khan as President, the ruling PPP, in accordance with tradition, established its stranglehold on the region. Historically, it is always the ruling party, or a Pakistan army-sponsored party when the country is under military rule, which forms a government in PoK. In a sham which passed off as elections, the PPP, predictably, established a majority in the legislative assembly and installed its senior member, Choudhary Abdul Majeed, as the Prime Minister. Sardar Muhammad Yaqub Khan, an erstwhile member of the APHC joined the PPP a little before the assembly elections and has been rewarded for his defection by being appointed the President of Azad Jammu Kashmir alias PoK. Thus the stranglehold is once again complete. Now that there is a change of government in Pakistan, the political establish of PoK will also witness a change soon enough.

The newly appointed President did not take too long to establish his intention to toe the PPP line despite being in an apolitical appointment. In his address after taking oath, he roundly condemned the arrest of Ghulam Nabi Fai in the United States despite it having been established that Fai was involved in underhand lobbying sponsored by the ISI. He further said that his top priority would be the Kashmir issue as his ancestors had “liberated the territory of Azad Kashmir” and their mission has to be completed – so much for reconciliation.

A different version to the entire ballgame has been presented by Altaf Hussain, the exiled leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), whose ”Mohajir” party members are being selectively targeted in the ongoing violence in Karachi. In a telephone conversation with Sardar Atique Ahmad Khan, an ex-Prime Minister of PoK, the MQM chief said, “Everyone in Pakistan is aware of the fraud in the recent Azad Kashmir elections.” “The current government is authoritarian and not a democratic government,” he added.

There are voices of protest coming up; those actively involved in this crusade to seek justice are Shabir Choudhry’s Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, Abdul Hamid Khan’s Balawaristan National Front, All Party National Alliance, Karakoram National Movement, Karakoram Students Organisation and Afro-Asian People’s Solidarity Organisation and many others. These political organisations have, time and again, reiterated their demand for empowering the people of PoK and Northern Areas to decide their future both political and economic outside the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Comparison with J&K

It goes without saying that the story of the so-called “under Indian occupation” J&K is on the other hand very different. Despite hostile terrain and a strategically disadvantageous location, this region has exhibited development feat after development feat. It offers not just state-sponsored employment but a thriving tourism industry revived virtually from the dead. The population is free to practice and observe their regional social norms and customs without any curbs whatsoever. The basic infrastructure in the form of transport (road, rail and air), education and health facilities is enviable. Being part of the strong and vibrant Indian State the region is well protected against any untoward and sudden event of a cataclysmic nature such as earthquakes that frequently rock the region, sometimes with catastrophic devastation as seen in 2005 and referred to earlier, above all it is ensured in terms of defence against aggressive designs.

Deep beneath the layer of deceit and blatant opportunism that has enveloped PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan since the last six-plus decades there is a very palpable disgust for Pakistan. Many in the twin regions, including its large Diaspora in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world, find India’s handling of its part of Kashmir more commendable. There is a growing awareness that while India has respected Kashmir’s age-old practice of not allowing outsiders to settle down in the Valley, Pakistan has allowed blatant settlement to fleece the local populace in the name of Jihad.

With regard to socio-economic parameters everyone is aware that Kashmiris in the Valley are better educated and better skilled due to the better education facilities that are available to them. On the political front, India has held fair elections in the Valley right down to the Panchayat level while the Pakistani government not only indulges of gross manipulation of elections, it also has the gumption of dismissing installed governments at will. Not only that, trade and exchange of services with the rest of the country provides a huge market for ethnically produced foods and handicrafts. Even the tourism industry is dependent on the rest of the country for clientele. Kashmiri population lives and moves around in any and every part of India with complete freedom. In fact the economic and social ties with the rest of the country are so strong that it cannot survive outside of the Indian Union. This is a widely acknowledged fact. Despite all this, the Indian State of J&K is portrayed as being under the rule of foreign occupation forces.

The socio-political and cultural landscape of PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan has been adversely affected since it has been the epicentre of Pakistan-sponsored Jihad against India through J&K. ISI has set up headquarters of the HM and many other elements of what is termed as the UJC in Muzaffarabad. All other groups engaged in violence in J&K like the LeT, JeM, Al Badr, etc, also have a prominent presence in these regions, in the form of training camps, offices and headquarters. The principal terrorist training camps are also in this region and people have been protesting openly for their removal. This, in itself, is reason enough for India to seek a change in Pakistan’s policy not only for the sake of the beleaguered people but also to wipe out the footprints of terror from Pakistan.

India’s Moral responsibility

The time has arrived for the world, led by India, to intervene in this highly oppressed region and pressurise the government of Pakistan to take cognisance to the just demands of the people. In 1971, India gave moral, material and military assistance to erstwhile East Pakistan against exploitation by West Pakistan and was responsible for the creation of a new nation now called Bangladesh. Against the backdrop of such moral standards it is surprising that the nation is not reacting to the sad plight of its own people. The need of the hour is to set aside diplomatic compulsions for the sake of humanity.

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It is quite astounding that the Kashmiri Sunni separatist leadership that harbours ambitions of a greater independent Kashmir including Gilgit-Baltistan has nothing to say about the ongoing holocaust. The silence of Syed Ali Shah Geelani and his Hurriyat friends over this ongoing massacre of Shias by Sunni Punjabi settlers is beyond belief.

The Indian leadership also needs to take a clear stand on the legal premise that PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan is Indian territories and the people are Indian citizens. We should not forget the vacant seats in J&K Assembly and Parliament for the region under Pakistan control. India must stand for people. This is the road map for the future now that terrorism has been controlled. India should be dominating these areas rather than all sorts of terrorists using them to come into Indian land.