Crises loom in Gilgit-Baltistan as Pakistan denies basic human rights: Report

The Gilgit-Baltistan region is witnessing turbulent time due to atrocities carried out by the Pakistani government, as well as, China.

According to a report by the International Forum for Rights and Security (IFFRAS), the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project (CPEC) has snatched the livelihood of people staying in Gilgit-Baltistan resulting in mass protests in the region recently.

The report claimed that the people of the GB region are demanding unity with India. The civil society of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) is carrying out demonstrations every day to seek economic and political rights for the local people who are deprived of their basic human rights.

The report stated that protesters are seeking ordinary demands like employment, electricity, wheat, education, and basically a life above destitution. The protesters have also reignited the land-grabbing issue.

Procuring land in Gilgit-Baltistan is reportedly hard due to the obligations emerging from the UN Security Council Resolution on Kashmir and some guarantees given to GB people by the state of Pakistan. Under the guise of developmental works, Pakistan slowly made its way into the region and invited China for a permanent stay, IFFRAS reported.

According to law, the land can only be used for the construction of military infrastructure. But the government has been using local politicians and goons for the procurement of land for the National Highway Authority and for the re-designing of the Karakorum highway, the report stated.

There is a rumour that the government intends to construct residential accommodations for ex-servicemen from mainland Pakistan.

This has further fueled the sentiments of the locals who have accused Pakistan of diluting the demographics of GB by attempting incursion in their areas, IFFRAS reported.

It added that Chinese workers shroud all the major projects and even receive cuts while the locals, the actual land owners live in misery.

Another huge woe is that of electricity. GB is the largest producer of electricity but its hydropower plants deliver to everyone in the nation besides them. The locals have alleged the government of stealing their assets and resources. This winter the federal government cut the power supply of GB for almost 20 hours a day.