Date of Award
Spring 2020
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Major
International Studies and Urban Studies
First Advisor
Garth Myers
Second Advisor
Shafqat Hussain
Abstract
Since Pakistan’s inception, Gilgit-Baltistan, a sprawling region in Northern Pakistan, has not been granted provincial status due to its colonial association with the disputed region of Kashmir. Gilgit-Baltistan refutes its forceful integration with Kashmir, an unfortunate remnant of British divide-and-rule strategy, and demands provincial recognition and constitutional rights. Pakistan unfairly claims that it awaits the UN-sanctioned plebiscite in Kashmir to determine the region’s status. However, the likelihood of a plebiscite is little to none, since the Indian government officially annexed Indian-held Kashmir in August 2019, breaching the UN resolution on the plebiscite. A region that has been at the mercy of draconian empires for centuries, is now exploited by an independent country it fought to join. Numerous self-empowerment reforms have created a façade of devolution, while the federal government holds direct control over the region’s activities. China holds unconstrained access to the region, without the permission of the local government. State-sponsored sectarian violence undermines unity and stability. The people protest the region’s ambiguous status that disenfranchises its tax-paying and law-abiding population.
In this senior honors thesis, I argue that the government of Pakistan intends to concretize Gilgit-Baltistan’s liminal status. Employing an urban definition of liminal space, I describe Gilgit-Baltistan’s history of uncertainty and disillusionment, in the context of its regional neighbors claiming parts of it. I emphasize that boundary-making politics of South Asia and Pakistan’s absolute control over its deprived population maintain the territorial and political ambiguity of the region. It is to be seen if Gilgit-Baltistan initiates a nation-wide revolt against the colonial-like rule of Pakistan and has its valid demands for long-awaited recognition met.
Recommended Citation
Tariq, Hamna, "The Permanent Liminality of Pakistan's Northern Areas- The Case of Gilgit-Baltistan". Senior Theses, Trinity College, Hartford, CT 2020.
Trinity College Digital Repository, https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/theses/821
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Comments
Senior thesis completed at Trinity College for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and Urban Studies.