Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) continues to languish on the periphery in the domain of national priorities. The already impoverished region of GB is reeling with woes, crises upon crises.
GB is now being stripped of a historic and decades-old stipulated wheat subsidy right granted to it during the ‘70s by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto on the basis of its disputed status. The federal government of Pakistan is a signatory and hence, is obliged to grant the subsidy until the resolution of its limbo status according to United Nations resolutions.
The Chief Minister of GB and the local government are bereft of any genuine authority or power. GB is squarely run by a non-local, state-sponsored bureaucrat. The local government has no funds to resolve issues because of the delay in the issuance of allocated funds from the Centre.
Protest sit-ins are already being held in all three divisions of GB, especially against the revocation of wheat subsidies and health cards (health cards issued during the PTI regime). The sense of marginalisation and deprivation is growing in the populace day by day. The apathy of the state does not seem to have changed. When it comes to GB, national political leaders only play into the gallery, presenting a glamorised and romanticised picture of GB to their audience, oblivious to its protracted woes and tribulations.
GB needs a shift of attention from its bolstering praise about its natural beauty to its reeling impoverishment and miseries. We have no dearth of local, national, and even international vloggers and documentary makers to depict its natural beauty.
Given the territorial importance GB holds in the geopolitical, geo-strategic, and geo-economic arena, Pakistan cannot afford to turn a blind eye towards this region anymore, lest an ever-growing sense of alienation and deprivation should be exploited by players lurking around such vulnerabilities. Therefore, addressing the challenges in Gilgit-Baltistan with a sense of urgency and decisive action is the most rational course to safeguard the region’s well-being and prevent external exploitation.
ZAHID ALI ZOHRI,
Gilgit.