Protests Across Gilgit, PoK Over Pakistan’s Move To Make Gilgit-Baltistan Its Fifth Province

Pakistan's move to make Gilgit-Baltistan its fifth province has triggered widespread protests all across Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Gilgit as the people led by the lawyers in both the regions have said that Pakistan is selling off a part of Kashmir to China just like it gave it the area of Aksai Chin and the Shaksgam Valley.

In what may come as a matter of concern for India, Pakistan is planning to declare Gilgit-Baltistan region as its fifth province. A committee headed by Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz recommended granting the region a provincial status.

Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh are four provinces of Pakistan. The Gilgit-Baltistan area is Pakistan's northernmost administrative territory that borders the disputed Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. However, India claims the Gilgit-Baltistan area as an integral part of its territory.

Lawyers in PoK and Gilgit are on strike over Pakistan's move to make Gilgit-Baltistan region as its 5th Province and are also demanding amendment to the POK interim Constitution Act 1974.

According to the protesters, Pakistan Government wants to carve out the region from the State of Jammu and Kashmir to make its land available to the Chinese Government for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.