As Pakistan is grappling with an unprecedented political crisis, the spiralling instability in the country is set to have bearings all around, especially in the illegally occupied regions.
While the country's economy was already reeling owing to the Imran Khan government's flawed policies, the other institutions too fear cracks or complete collapse amidst this deteriorating situation. And while the media is focusing on the country's power centre and its close proximity, it is the people in the illegally occupied regions who are more fearful of their imminent future.
Like lawyers in Gilgit-Baltistan have no idea how the situation would pan out for them. They have been holding demonstrations demanding a judicial bench in what has been declared against their will a provisional province of Pakistan.
There is another set of people who have been at the receiving end of the state's favouritism and nepotism policies. Favouritism has not only hampered the career growth of these forest guards but has clearly pushed them into a territory where they not only feel discriminated against but also inferior to even their juniors. The political instability in the country is only going to prolong their pain. Some who are just months away from their retirement might never see their right being accorded to them.
People of illegally occupied Gilgit Baltistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) have had years of disappointment in the form of state discrimination and state atrocities. And that was when a firm, stable dispensation was at the helm of affairs in Islamabad.
Experts fear a political instability in Islamabad might give Pakistan authorities a chance to treat the people of the region the way they want under the pretext of this leadership vacuum. This will mark a period that people of the region would never want to see but might have to endure if the crisis protracted any longer.
( With inputs from ANI )
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