AJK, GB: Interim representation in Pakistan’s Parliament

A recent speech delivered on the floor of Pakistan’s National Assembly has once again brought into focus a constitutional and political question that has surfaced periodically over many decades: should the people of Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) be represented in Pakistan’s National Assembly and Senate? Although the debate may appear contemporary, its roots go much deeper. Historical discussions suggest that variations of this question were already being explored in the early decades after independence, particularly during the 1950s when India began extending parliamentary representation to residents of Jammu and Kashmir under its constitutional framework. This divergence reflected two fundamentally different approaches toward the Kashmir issue. India viewed Jammu and Kashmir through the lens of territorial integration and gradually incorporated parliamentary representation into that process. Pakistan adopted a different position, treating the State of Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory and placing the right of self-determination for its people at the centre of its diplomatic and constitutional narrative. It was under this approach that Azad Jammu & Kashmir and later Gilgit-Baltistan, remained outside Pakistan’s conventional provincial structure. For a considerable period, this position was considered more consistent with both the declared aspirations of the Kashmiri people and broader international principles relating to self-determination. Yet history reveals another dimension that deserves equal attention. A closer examination of the political evolution of Azad Jammu & Kashmir shows that questions of representation, public participation and constitutional structure were never absent within the territory itself. At least three notable political tendencies emerged in the formative years. The first was the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference, widely regarded as the historic political force associated with the movement for accession