Gilgit-Baltistan: A New Uprising In Pakistan's ‘Last Colony' Against Oppressive Rule
For decades, GB has sought autonomy, political representation, and development aligned with local needs and ambitions, but has faced growing neglect and exploitation from Pakistan
A fresh wave of resistance against the Pakistani state's illegal occupation of the region is being witnessed in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB). The local traders and business community of GB have launched a movement to oppose trade and travel between Pakistan and China via the Khunjerab Pass. This latest protest is the outcome of the relentlessly exploitative economic and political conditions imposed on GB by the Pakistani state. The protest by the traders has come close on the heels of a mass movement by the local residents of GB against the controversial Land Reforms Act, 2025, passed on May 21.
For the last four weeks, traders have been continuing with a sit-in at the Karakoram Highway, bringing the region to a standstill. They are demanding recognition of local interests by Islamabad as well as its accountability. To understand GB's tumultuous relationship with Islamabad, it is important to look at the history of this asymmetric and oppressive power dynamic, which continues to disenfranchise, marginalise, and politically erase the identity, aspirations, and future of the people of this region.
According to the US-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Pakistan has treated GB more as a colony rather than as part of the federation. 'The region has long been regarded by Pakistan not as a cherished part of the federation, but as a distant and burdensome periphery. Successive governments have turned a blind eye to the fundamental needs of the humble inhabitants of Gilgit-Baltistan, relegating the region to an ad hoc governance framework administered from afar—governed not by participatory laws, but by decrees handed down from Islamabad," says a recent MEMRI report.
The origins of this injustice lie in the 1949 Karachi Agreement. Under this 'agreement", the control of GB (then called Northern Areas) was transferred from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) to Islamabad without any representative from the region. Since then, Islamabad has directly ruled GB through the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs, using the draconian colonial-era Frontier Crimes Regulation. Its constitutional status remains in limbo as Pakistan has tried to use it to build another false narrative by linking it to the resolution of the Kashmir issue with India. But to deal with growing frustration among the local residents, it introduced limited self-governance reforms to the region, renaming it 'Gilgit and Baltistan' in 2009.
However, this move was exposed as hollow; right from the beginning, the GB assembly was systematically populated by 'compliant figureheads or puppets, rather than leaders who dared to interpret their roles with independence and purpose," as emphasised in the MEMRI analysis.
For decades, GB has sought autonomy, political representation, and development aligned with local needs and aspirations, but instead has faced growing neglect and exploitative policies from Pakistan. The Pakistani magazine Herald once described Gilgit-Baltistan as Pakistan's 'last colony", a phrase that aptly reflects Islamabad's governing attitude toward the region.
Very recently, GB was engulfed in massive demonstrations against the forcibly passed Land Reforms Act, 2025. This legislation was opposed by the people, as it would enable land grabs by Punjabi landlords and the Pakistani military, displace the local population, and exploit natural resources. This law would also intensify military control.
As GB is the only region under Pakistan's occupation that has a Shia and Ismaili majority, Islamabad has also undertaken a systematic campaign of altering the demography by opening up the region to outsiders. Now, fed up with increasing federal taxes and deliberate obstacles to local trade, GB traders—backed by a host of local political parties and religious groups—have sustained a resilient sit-in at Sost. This powerful show of solidarity and demand for justice compelled Chief Minister Haji Gulbar Khan and Governor Mehdi Shah to seek federal intervention, leading to the formation of a federal committee to make recommendations for the issue's resolution. The protestors' demands are simple: exemption from income, sales, and other federal taxes on commodities imported from China through the Khunjerab Pass—deemed illegal by traders considering GB's lack of constitutional status—and urgent customs clearance for 280 consignments stuck at Sost Dry Port under a one-time amnesty scheme.
Ironically, while Gilgit-Baltistan is considered to be geographically very significant for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Islamabad's treatment of local traders sends a clear message that it is least bothered about the interests of the local population and is only interested in exploiting the strategic position and resources of the region.
All routes connecting Pakistan to China, including the critical Karakoram Highway, pass through GB, which should ideally have brought more economic opportunities for the local population. However, in contrast, it has resulted in increased Chinese military presence. This reinforces the fact that Pakistan follows the template of exploiting the region while keeping the people underdeveloped. If the locals dare to express their aspirations, they are handled brutally by the Pakistani military and its death squads.
Therefore, the traders' blockade in GB represents more than an economic conflict—it is the roar of a voice silenced for decades from a region long suffering under the thumb of Islamabad's colonial and oppressive policies.
The writer is an author and columnist. His X handle is @ArunAnandLive. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18's views.
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August 16, 2025, 22:02 IST
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