Protests in PoGB over resource exploitation and compensation refusal for displaced residents

The “Huqooq Do, Dam Banao” (Give Rights, Build Dam) movement in Pakistan Occupied Gilgit-Baltistan (PoGB) has intensified as protesters have blocked the Karakoram Highway for traffic. Launched on February 16, the movement gained momentum as people from various regions of PoGB convened in Chilas to demand compensation from the federal government for constructing the Diamer-Bhasha hydroelectric project on their land.  As anticipated, Islamabad has refused to acknowledge the ongoing protests and has ignored a 31-point charter of demands. 

This is another blatant example of Pakistan’s illegal exploitation of resources in PoGB and a stark failure to compensate the local population for their land, labor, and water. Conversely, Pakistan has brought in outside workers from provinces like Punjab and Sindh to alter the local demographics in the occupied territory of Gilgit-Baltistan. 

More importantly, Chinese companies, engineers, and laborers are constructing major dams and other infrastructural projects in PoGB. Locals claim that Islamabad has virtually ceded control of the occupied region to Beijing, reigniting fears of Pakistan’s unlawful relinquishment of the Shasgham Valley to China in 1963. Under economic pressure from China and the burden of completing the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Islamabad may further allow illegal economic and territorial control in PoGB to China. Consequently, the local population has resolved to hold mass protests in the occupied region to voice their dissent against the increasing control of the “outsiders” and the brazen exploitation of their livelihoods. 

For a decade, PoGB has been in the spotlight for various issues. Whether concerning wheat subsidies, taxation, land reforms, or demands for self-governance, the people’s grievances have sparked significant protests in the occupied region, which often continue for months, including a massive protest in the Hunza Valley against prolonged power cuts in January. Successive federal governments in Pakistan have failed to address the chronic issues in PoGB and have relied on temporary solutions. As a result, one after another, the protests and marches gather large crowds while civil and local political leaders present a list of demands. The ‘Huqooq Do, Dam Banao’ (Give Rights, Build Dam) movement, led by Maulana Hazratullah, has been demanding the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) to resolve long-pending grievances of residents and to provide relief to the affected people of Diamer, with no success so far. 

The ongoing movement has also issued a 31-point charter of demands. It includes the immediate implementation of agreements signed with Wapda in 2010 and 2021, land compensation according to current market values determined by the GB government, essential services and healthcare support for all affected individuals, allocation of six kanals (3,035 square meters) of agricultural land for each affected individual, as promised under the 2010 agreement, and inclusion of locals in the household resettlement package (Chulha Package). The movement has widespread support from GB’s Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), traders, lawyers, and political, religious, and nationalist parties, who are calling for immediate government intervention. So far, federal agencies have not shown any interest in compensating residents who were promised financial and land compensation for agreeing to vacate their lands for the Diamer-Bhasha dam. Locals fear that Pakistani state authorities will again resort to heavy-handed tactics against protestors to suppress the demonstrations. However, residents of PoGB have endured enough state atrocities that they are unwilling to back down and continue protests at multiple locations.  

Experts believe this movement is important and different from previous ones. For the first time here, a mega infrastructure project, the Diamer-Bhasha hydroelectric project, of the Pakistan government has become the focus of protests in PoGB. It is not just because the locals are against the dam itself but because they have not been compensated as per the agreement with Wapda, and it will put their lives in danger. The Diamer-Bhasha Dam, a high-altitude project on the Indus River in a highly unstable seismic zone, faces significant geographical risks, including potential dam failure due to earthquakes, landslides, and rockfalls, as well as environmental impacts on the Indus delta and surrounding ecosystems. Nevertheless, the Pakistani government ignored these life-threatening risks and decided to construct this reservoir by illegally occupying lands and resources in PoGB. 

Locals have also complained that they are not treated fairly in construction work because workers are brought in from other provinces, while local laborers have been overlooked. Additionally, protestors do not engage with the illegitimate ‘government’ of PoGB, as they are aware of who controls the occupied territory—the federal government at the behest of the Pakistan military establishment. Consequently, people associated with the “Huqooq Do, Dam Banao” movement have blocked the Karakoram Highway, the main CPEC route connecting Pakistan to northwestern China. It has blocked the land trade between the two countries and warned Islamabad and Beijing that the local population in PoGB will continue their struggle against the historical exploitation of their land and natural resources. 

Maulana Hazratullah, the leader of the movement, told the media, “We [PoGB residents] have sacrificed everything for the dam, and justice should be ensured,” and cautioned that while the people of Diamer are peaceful, they will not tolerate being ignored or mistreated. Similar to past protests, this demonstration underscores the unresolved challenges that local communities in PoGB faces due to large-scale infrastructure projects. Add to the forced displacement matter with no government compensation are the unresolved issues of power outages, unavailability of main food items, overhaul in wheat subsidies, and unhindered exploitation of critical minerals, including uranium, in PoGB by the Pakistani government in cahoots with China. With no choices left, locals, including women, children, and the elderly, are coming out of their houses despite bone-chilling cold weather and chances of state violence against them. Unfortunately, as Pakistan escalates its unlawful control in PoGB and aims to integrate the region as a “full-fledged” province, the local population will continue to endure human rights abuses, repressive laws, additional taxes, and resource exploitation with support from China.