Institute for Gilgit Baltistan Studies

The Chitral-Garum Chashma-Eshkashim highway project is crucial for economic improvement of Pakistan. After completion of the Lowari Tunnel mega project, there is no reason to delay this important project anymore. The road from Kabul to China through the Pamir Range was completed within just two years after being designed in 2000. The situation, circumstances and difficulties in the construction of the Kabul-China highway were the same as in the case of Chitral-Garum Chashma-Eshkashim highway project, but the latter is still in limbo though an agreement in this regard has already been signed between the presidents of Pakistan and Tajikistan.

GILGIT: The Gilgit-Baltistan Masajid Board and the parliamentary peace committee have signed a 15-point code of conduct to ensure sectarian peace and harmony and use of worship places for constructive purposes in the region. The parliamentary committee of the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly and council had nominated the members for the two Masajid Boards to take over the affairs of the mosques and streamline the matters and make sure that both the mosques are not used for the hate spreading.
 
An agreement to this effect was signed by the members of the board belonging to both the Ahle Tashih and Ahle Sunnah communities at a meeting at the secretariat of the legislative assembly which was chaired by prime minister's adviser Maulana Attaullah Shahab. The meeting decided that the central mosque of in the Gilgit city would be opened and from now onwards all the prayer leaders and khateebs would be responsible for implementing the code of conducts in their respective places of worship and in case of violations action would be taken against them. It was also decided in the meeting that the 15-point code of conduct would first be approved by the cabinet and then given the status of an act through the legislative assembly.

Rights ativist and prominent nationalist leader from Gilgit-Baltistan has said the imprisoned political activists of Vietnam reminded him of his homeland where human rights activists faced sedition charges and torture under Pakistani subjugation. Speaking to the Vietnamese community in Washington, Senge Sering said six political prisoners, including Baba Jan, were tortured in the Gilgit jail recently; their heads forcefully shaved off and fingers broken for demanding the right to self-determination for Gilgit-Baltistan.
 
On this occasion, he also urged the Vietnamese government to release all political prisoners and religious scholars and let democracy and the rule of law flourish in the country. Sering was honoured by the Vietnamese community to talk about human rights issues of Gilgit-Baltistan during their commemoration of 18th Vietnam Human Rights Day held in the US Senate.

Senge Sering talking about natural resource thievery in Gilgit Baltistan during a rally organized by the Diaspora of the Republic of the Philippines in Washington DC. The speakers talked about China recently encroaching on more than 200 kilometers of the Philippine territory, rich in oil and gas resources

Senge Sering was honored by the Vietnamese community to talk about human rights issues of Gilgit Baltistan during their commemoration of 18th Vietnam Human Rights Day which was held in the US Senate. Below is the video and text of the presentation.

The Indian intelligence agency RAW’s founder chief, Vikram Sood wrote an article some years ago in which he suggested to the Indian government and military establishment to shun the popular-among-Indian-strategists the idea of launching an offensive against Pakistan through its armoured divisions from Rajasthan’s side in order to invade Pakistani Punjab and Sindh. Instead, he suggested, India should occupy Gilgit-Baltistan with the help of the RAW-funded Balwaristan movement, and cut off Pakistan’s Karakorum Highway link with China by keeping vigil from the Siachen heights.

GILGIT: Sectarian violence, killings and hatred, which have been a common occurrence in Gilgit-Baltistan for the last over 30 years, have been orchestrated by successive governments and the secret agencies. This fact is now being acknowledged by each and everyone in Gilgit-Baltistan and the latest confession has come from a sitting minister of the Mehdi Shah regime. Wazir Shakil, the Gilgit-Baltistan Minister for Law while speaking at a peace conference in the Gilgit city the other day, said: "We have not yet pinpointed those agencies who were behind creating unrest in the region. The government is working on different options to promote peace and sectarian harmony in the volatile region."

GILGIT: As corruption rules the roost in all government departments in Gilgit-Baltistan, it seems the education department has got one step ahead and broken all records of misdeeds by putting up for sale the posts of teachers. The situation in the vital department has reached such a sorry state that some sources informed this correspondent that taking advantage of the situation even a shepherd had joined the department as a teacher by greasing the palms of the officials concerned who have put the posts on sale.

 According to Bang-e-Sehar, more than 700 families have relocated amidst fear of attacks
 GILGIT: Senior Pakistan People's Party leader and GB Council Member Advocate Amjad Hussain has warned that more 'no-go areas' will sprout in the Gilgit town if the situation was not taken into control. "There are reports that people of a certain sect are leaving their homes out of fear of being executed. The government should take notice of this," he said. The town was divided into safe and 'no-go areas' after some of the worst bouts of sectarian violence in the region, further widening the existing gulf between the Shia and Sunni sects.

How are they treating political leaders of Gilgit Baltistan in jail. One of the activists, Baba Jan, is said to have suffered two broken fingers and injuries to his head and other parts of his body (IGBS)

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has raised alarm over the torture of political workers by Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) police and security agencies for protesting against the quality of food in Gilgit Jail.
 “Reports of alleged torture of at least five political activists in the Gilgit Jail are exceedingly worrying and hint at the authorities’ stubborn refusal to learn from past mistakes,” an HRCP statement said on Saturday.
 The five activists, who have been in prison for several months, continue to face harsh treatment for protesting against the poor quality of food and delay in hearing of cases of prisoners in the jail, it stated.