NON-TRADITIONAL SECURITY THREATS IN GILGIT-BALTISTAN…… TEHMINA ZEHRA

Gilgit-Baltistan, due to its geographical position is suffering from non-traditional security threats such as climate change, shortage of food and energy,natural disasters,irregular migrationand crimes like sectarian violence generated by the transnational actors.Gilgit-Baltistan is located in the north of Pakistan connected with Xinjiang province of China and Wakhan strip in Afghanistan, in the west by Chitral in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa and on the south and southeast by Indian occupied Kashmir.
Like all other regions in Pakistan, Gilgit Baltistan is also suffering from climate change. The region is being developed by constructing roads like Karakoram Highway for CPEC, industries and construction of buildings for the huge migrants from rural areas to the cities. All of these developments are occurring at the expense of climate change. The cutting down of trees, smoke from heavy trucks and other traffic due to CPEC which consequently increased the level of greenhouse gases in the environment causing the mighty glaciers and snow to melt rapidly. As a result, winters are colder and summers are hotter than normal which in return cause floods. Gilgit Baltistan is bestowed with more than 40 glaciers therefore it is called theland of glaciers.Batura Glacier is one of the largest glaciersof Pakistan which is aboutfifty seven kilometers long. These glaciers meltdown and caused floods in the region like recently in summer people are badly suffered from floods. According to the reports of Gilgit-Baltistan Disaster Management Authority, due to the recent floods seventeen people havedied and six have been injuredand property losses have been occurred.
The people of Gilgit-Baltistan are at the stake of food and energy shortage as they rely on the wheat, cereals and food items supplied fromother provinces. Despite that Gilgit Baltistan is suitable for the production of both deciduous fruits and crops such asbarley, wheat, potatoes and maize etc. Locals are dependent on other provinces for food items. The population of Gilgit-Baltistan is approximately 1.5 million and the agricultural land is only about 1.2% of the total area. Due to the harsh weather conditions, in experienced farmers, lack of cultivable land, construction of roads and buildings and lack of storage facilities, food scarcity is increased in the region. Food shortage becomes harsh particularly when Karakorum Highway is blocked due to landslides.As we know that GB is blessed with water resources which can be used for power production but during winters availability of water is decreased in the region. As a result, people suffered from power shortage that should be solved through alternative ways.
Another heartrending situation in Gilgit Baltistan is sectarian violence. Many factors are becoming the cause of sectarian violenceand due to the geographical proximity of the region many transnational actors are activeto sabotage the law and order in the region. These actors may be India, U.S. and other state agencies who don’t want Pakistan to flourish as we know that Gilgit-Baltistan is the gateway for CPEC which is very crucial forPakistan. Now let’s discuss some incidents of sectarian violence and the factors behind it over the past in the region. Since 1980s, after General Zia’s extremist policies and during Afghan jihad sectarian violence had increased in the region. The 1988’s tension was a result of extremist views about the Shia sect and was an attempt of Shia genocide. The people accused General Zia’s administration for this heart wrenching incident and administration accused the RAW Agency of India for this annihilation. The armed Sunni extremists consisted of 80,000 traveled from Mansehra to Gilgit in orderto annihilate the Shias in Shia majority areas and government did not stop it. Shias had to flee from their homes to the safer regions and fought with the huge lashker and many of them martyred. The Shia majority villages were brutally ruined and even they had slaughtered their animals. From this we can assume that how much they hated Shias. In 2005, sectarian violence had once again aroused after the assassination of Agha Zia-ud-Deen Rizvi as a result of which many people from both sects lost their lives.Till today sectarian violence is existed there in GB.
In order to overcome the non-traditional security threats in Gilgit-Baltistan, government should bring reforms in their policies. Firstly, government should make policies tostop the cutting of trees and initiate plantation and furthermore the dumping of plastic waste should be done in a systemic way so that they could not affect the ecosystem.In this way, we can compensate the carbon emissions. Secondly, to tackle the food shortage, government should introduce specialized trainings for farmers and also ensure the availability of water to the barren lands for cultivation. Thirdly, irregular migrations from other cities in GB are causing saturation in businesses, jobs and most important urbanization due to high population which is also a threat to the indigenous culture. Government should adopt policies to stop the irregular migrations. Finally, the most important issue is sectarian violence in GB.In order to reduce it government should focus on the employment of the citizens because many of the locals are being used by non-state actors as they offer money to them and use them for the accomplishment of their nefarious goals. These initiatives would maintain peace and stability in the region and promote tourism which will play a vital role in boosting the economy of the state.

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