In Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, residents see experiment with autonomy as 'illusion'

One area of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir was given limited autonomy in 2009 and hailed as a successful model for the disputed region – but many residents say there hasn't been enough change.

Baba Jan, a 30-something political activist from Gilgit Baltistan in northeast Kashmir, was jailed by Pakistani police in mid-September for inciting unrest, considered terrorism.

From jail, where he was imprisoned along with about 50 other political workers, Mr. Jan claims the real reason for his detention and indefinite extension has to do with his politics: Jan’s Labor Party actively demands greater autonomy and a referendum on independence for Gilgit-Baltistan, which lies in disputed Kashmir. Pakistan doesn’t want that.

“We want our assembly to decide whether to join China, Pakistan, or India – but I’d prefer independence,” says Jan. “Why join a country that uses terrorism in the name of Islam? No human rights, no political rights and no free judges. No one wants to stay with this country and that’s why the intelligence agencies hound us.”

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2011/1128/In-Pakistan-controlled-Kashmir-residents-see-experiment-with-autonomy-as-illusion

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