In a bid to tighten its grip on the illegally occupied territory of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan’s military establishment has successfully installed a puppet administration. Following the heavily rigged sham elections on June 7 which were marred by widespread manipulation and public outrage Bilawal Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was forced into power. Amjad Hussain was placed as the Chief Minister of the Shia-majority occupied region. To ensure total control, the Pakistani military deep state brokered a backroom power-sharing deal between Shehbaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the PPP, dividing the top administrative spoils to keep local voices entirely suppressed.
Forced Resolution to Legalize 78 Years of Illegal Occupation
Stepping up its expansionist agenda, Islamabad has initiated a brazen and illegal process to formally annex Gilgit-Baltistan, a region it has held under heavy-handed military occupation for 78 years. On Thursday, the occupied region’s assembly now packed with Islamabad’s handpicked loyalists passed an unopposed joint resolution demanding that the territory be declared Pakistan’s “fifth province.” The copy of this joint resolution available with ABP News bears the signatures of the pro-Pakistan PPP Chief Minister and Speaker, the PML-N Opposition Leader and Deputy Speaker, as well as two independent lawmakers. This engineered resolution has been sent to Islamabad. The goal is to allow the Pakistani Parliament to rubber-stamp this illegal territorial acquisition through a forced constitutional amendment.
Also Read: OPINION | PoK’s Angry Youth Want Jobs, Not Another Border War
Geopolitical Desperation Post Article 370
This desperate annexation drive is a direct reaction to India’s landmark 2019 decision to revoke Articles 370 and 35A, which fully integrated Jammu and Kashmir. Panic-stricken by India’s decisive move that time Pakistan had threatened to dismantle Gilgit-Baltistan’s semi-autonomous status. While the previous Imran Khan regime used this merely as a hollow geopolitical threat to pressure India and faced fierce resistance from local leaders who opposed losing their identity the current regime has decided to completely override local sentiments to serve Islamabad’s strategic anxieties.
Complicit Coalition Pushes Islamabad’s Expansionist Agenda
With the highly compliant coalition of Bilawal Bhutto and Shehbaz Sharif now ruling both Islamabad and the occupied assembly in Gilgit-Baltistan, the Pakistani establishment easily pushed through the annexation resolution. This move does not just attempt to illegally legitimize Pakistan’s unlawful occupation; it also aggressively demands seats in the National Assembly and the Senate of Pakistan, attempting to forcefully weave the disputed region into Pakistan’s political fabric against historical and international mandates.
[embedded content]
ALSO READ | ‘I’m Unable To Speak’: Wangchuk Weakens On Day 20 Of CJP Hunger Strike; Docs Warn Of Organ Failure
Stripping Autonomy: Final Step Toward Total Subjugation
Under Pakistan’s own constitution, the country is legally restricted to only four provinces: Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Because of its illegal occupation, Pakistan could never constitutionally claim Gilgit-Baltistan, leaving the region with a semi-autonomous status. While federal laws were historically imposed on the locals, the regional Chief Minister and Governor retained some executive powers to prevent total dependency on Islamabad. Now, by installing a weak, complicit puppet government, Pakistan has stripped away even that minor shield of autonomy, completing the first stage of a hostile, direct administrative takeover.
