Raza Ali
We condemn the arrest of the leaders of the Gilgit-Baltistan Awami Action Committee (AAC). Among the arrested are Chairman Ehsan Ali, who is also a member of the Revolutionary Communist Party, Vice Chairman Mehboob Wali, Waheed Hassan, Asghar Shah and Masood-ur-Rehman.
The arrest of the leaders of the AAC Ehsan Ali and others is part of the colonial system of the state of Pakistan in Gilgit-Baltistan and the ongoing state oppression and exploitation of the rights of the people here.
Plunder of Gilgit-Baltistan
Gilgit-Baltistan, a territory in the northeast bordering Pakistan and Kashmir, has been formally taken under Pakistan’s control under UN resolutions, but in practice this region is directly under the control of the military elite, as if it were an “open area”. The AAC is struggling to end this colonial occupation, plunder of local resources and to give the region an empowered constitutional status.
The “Green Pakistan Initiative” and “Green Tourism” projects are in fact the military-sponsored occupation of agricultural lands, environmental destruction and privatization of local resources. The AAC’s leadership has been arrested for organising public opposition to the resistance to the seizure of resources and wealth, trade, business and by Pakistan’s rulers.
The AAC had announced a “Grand Jirga” to be held on May 24 and 25, 2025. This Jirga was set to be a massive popular assembly to discuss and agree a whole set of democratic and social demands. At this Jirga, a 19-point demands such as local authority over mineral resources, the establishment of a constituent assembly, a land reform act and recognition of Gilgit-Baltistan as a third party in the CPEC were to be presented. The arrest of AAC leaders Ehsan Ali and other leaders is aimed at sabotaging this “national jirga” and crushing public resistance.
The AAC leaders have been falsely charged under wide-reaching anti-terrorism laws with hate speech, and are being subjected to oppression and torture. They have also been deprived of their basic constitutional rights. Their arrest is an act of state retaliation.
Government and military
Under the SFIC (Special Investment Facilitation Council), run by the prime minister of Pakistan, all government rest houses, hotels, motels and forest houses in Gilgit-Baltistan have been handed over to a company run by the military, called the “Green Tourism Company”. This process is a means of privatizing state assets and consolidating the control of the military elite over the resources of Gilgit-Baltistan.
The project facilitates the exploitation by global and national capital and the looting of local resources, which will increase exploitation rather than benefiting the local population. It is an attempt to erase the local control over resources’ and will increase environmental destruction. Not only tourism but also mineral leases, mountains, pastures, streams and glaciers are being seized by SFIC. Thus, the plan establishes total control of military companies over wealth, trade, business and employment.
The Gilgit-Baltistan Land Reforms Bill has raised serious concerns among the public. Although the bill has been introduced in the name of “protecting local rights”, in practice it is yet another attempt to deprive local people of their land, mountains, pastures and natural resources. The Public Action Committee has called the bill a continuation of “imperialist occupation”. The bill extends state authority over the communal rights of local communities, which is against the historical and cultural land tenure system of Gilgit-Baltistan.
The bill has been passed at a time when the leaders of the Awami Action Committee are in jail and the Awami Action Committee movement is being suppressed. The bill has been passed without public consultation and under duress to prevent the public from becoming aware of its true implications and resisting it.
The arrest of Awami Action Committee leaders, the Green Tourism project and the Land Reforms Bill are different aspects of the state’s colonial oppression, resource plunder, and capitalist exploitation of Gilgit-Baltistan.
Protests have taken place across Pakistan, including Gilgit-Baltistan, and internationally against the arrest of the Awami Action Committee leaders. In one such protest, 25 students from Gilgit-Baltistan were arrested from Karachi and were later released under pressure from the Human Rights Commission and the public.
We demand the release of the leader of Awami Action Committee! We call on the labour movement and all social movements in Pakistan and globally to organise protest action in their support.