A fresh wave of resistance against the Pakistani state’s illegal occupation of the region is being witnessed in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB). The local traders and business community of GB have launched a movement to oppose trade and travel between Pakistan and China via the Khunjerab Pass. This latest protest is the outcome of the relentlessly exploitative economic and political conditions imposed on GB by the Pakistani state. The protest by the traders has come close on the heels of a mass movement by the local residents of GB against the controversial Land Reforms Act, 2025, passed on May 21.

For the last four weeks, traders have been continuing with a sit-in at the Karakoram Highway, bringing the region to a standstill. They are demanding recognition of local interests by Islamabad as well as its accountability. To understand GB’s tumultuous relationship with Islamabad, it is important to look at the history of this asymmetric and oppressive power dynamic, which continues to disenfranchise, marginalise, and politically erase the identity, aspirations, and future of the people of this region.

Situated near the borders of East Turkistan, which China controversially renamed as Xinjiang province, Afghanistan’s Wakhan Corridor, and India’s Jammu and Kashmir, the region is perceived as an indispensable strategic asset by Pakistan. However, Pakistan has solely viewed GB through the lens of its geostrategic and economic potential, rather than the welfare and aspirations of the people........

© News18