Siachen’s Non-paper and the Non-people

Pakistan and India, reportedly, have exchanged ’non-papers’ on the demilitarisation of Siachen -- the world’s highest battle ground -- where the two have been up against each other and ’nature’ in sub-zero temperatures of the Karakoram. Siachen is a place where more soldiers have died of frostbite and freezing cold than bullets, bombs and missiles. Realising the zero sum results, the two countries have now started to seriously consider withdrawal of the military, and to convert the area into a ’Peace Park’. As for the locals, this is just about the right idea as long as the two countries stop treating them as ’non-people’ and accept that these nearly two million peace loving people in Gilgit -- Baltistan (Northern Areas) and Ladakh are human beings who deserve equal and equitable human rights.

So far, the signs are not positive, the extent to which the people of Ladakh and Northern Areas stand ignored in the so called ’peace process’ can be seen by the fact that India and Pakistan have restored all possible land, rail and air links between the two countries, they have even gone on to open an unprecedented number of crossing points between the most troubled parts of Azad Kashmir and Jammu and Kashmir, yet calls for restoring road links between Baltistan and Ladakh, two perfectly peaceful places, have so far fallen on deaf ears in Delhi and Islamabad. They have shown complete disregard to the human rights of those thousands of poor divided families who are quietly waiting for reunion with their loved ones, who are silently looking for dividends of the peace process to trickle down and touch their lives as well.

It is indeed illogical and unfair to keep opening of roads between Skardu and Ladakh hostage to demilitarisation of Siachen, as the road link between the two cities passes by a good 100 km away from the Siachen area. Nonetheless, development of a military pull out and establishment of a Peace Park is bound to rekindle new hopes. Given the ’Peace Park’ is designed in a way to allow these two unfairly restricted mountain areas of South Asia to revive their cultural, social and economic ties.

Siachen could be a terrible nightmare for the two countries, and the locals would definitely be happy to see the army moving out, however, they also are aware that the Siachen conflict has been an important catalyst for development in those otherwise remote and neglected valleys. Roads, electricity, hospitals, telephone, and schools built for families of the armed forces have brought spill over benefits to the local communities. Supply of rations to forward bases has created work opportunities as porters, labourers, and contractors. Today, many locals are in a good position to use the war’s infrastructure for trade and tourism once the army decides to roll back from the area.

The writer grew up watching helicopters ferrying dead and injured from the Siachen glacier to the military hospital in Skardu. Soldiers coming from Siachen would fondly share their tales of heroics, mainly related to how they survived temperatures as low as minus 60 degrees. For many, this was one hell of an experience, a river of slow-moving ice surrounded by towering peaks, deep crevasses where a single wrong step could lead to sudden death, and where blizzards can bury hundreds of soldiers in minutes. These soldiers would tell horrifying stories of how lack of oxygen, high altitude sicknesses and frost bites have taken the lives of so many fellow soldiers, and how helpless they found themselves when faced with the power of nature; to be honest it’s a place where you cannot forget God for a moment, they would finish.

Pakistan and India have been entangled on the 72 km glacier since mid 1984. Siachen is a Balti word which means ’land of roses’ for abundance of blackish wild roses in the adjoining valleys. It is the longest glacier outside the Arctic and Antarctic regions and is often called the third pole. Siachen is the great Himalayan watershed that demarcates central Asia from the Indian sub-continent separating Pakistan from China and Ladakh. The Nubra River drains the glacier and ultimately joins the Shyok River which meets the Indus near Skardu. A northern slope from the glacier leads to the Shaksgam valley a part of Shigar in Baltistan currently under Chinese control.

Many analysts trace the Siachen conflict due to lack of clarity in demarcation of the boundary between Ladakh and Baltistan regions. Before partition Baltistan was part of Ladakh Wazarat, Skardu, which is the current capital of Baltistan which was the winter capital for 6 months of Ladakh Wazarat, while Leh was the summer capital of Wazarat for 6 months. Until the 1950s Pakistani governments treated Gilgit -- Baltistan as a part of the State of Jammu and Kashmir under their temporary control.

However, following a series of conflicts between Pakistan and India and later on between China and India in the 1960s Pakistan started realising the strategic importance of the region. The construction of the Karakoram Highway (KKH) further cemented this convergence. Even today many Pakistani maps show Baltistan as part of Ladakh while Gilgit Agency is shown as part of Pakistan. This ambiguity provided Indians with an excuse to take over henceforth undefined territory. Meanwhile, by moving troops to Siachen, India perhaps wanted to get closer to the KKH which could serve as an important supply route during a war.

In recent times, Pakistan and India have been seeking a negotiated withdrawal from the glacier. So far, the discussions have been unsuccessful due to a variety of reasons among them Indian insistence to formalise the current troops’ positions as an original line of control and Pakistan has been insisting on withdrawal of troops from both sides to the pre-1984 positions. But during recent demarches Pakistan has shown an understanding in acknowledging current troop positions, which has opened possibilities for withdrawal in the near future.

Since 2000 the environmental lobby too has sprung into action on Siachen. Academic researchers, mountaineering groups, and conservationist are all singing in unison to turn the glacier into a Peace Park. The Karakoram Science Project by former US Ambassador to India Harry Barnes and geologist Jack Shroder with support from the National Geographic Society have been interested in opening the glaciated area for scientific research.

Despite these seemingly well intentioned efforts, the idea is a long way from actual fruition. Demilitarisation from the existing position is a possibility but it is not clear if absolute demilitarisation required for a Peace Park will ever take place in such a heavily militarised region. Delineation of the park boundary is another challenge, the two countries are unlikely to allow park planners to draw new boundaries, decide on the rights of visitors, or manage the park.

Furthermore, unless the Siachen non-papers do not contain a pragmatic road map to take into account aspirations and human rights of the local people, it is bound to meet one thing -- failure. Let us hope India and Pakistan, and the Kashmiris, will not make the mistake of inviting the ’curse of the innocent’ again.