On February 26, 2011, a representative of the Human Rights Observer International (HRO) accused the federal government of Pakistan for the continued targeted killings and related terrorist activities in Gilgit. The representative stated that Pakistani security forces and police stationed in Gilgit have appropriated billions of rupees in the name of maintaining law and order; however, with no real success. While talking to the media, the representative also condemned recent killing of a prominent political leader, Mir Nawaz advocate, who was gunned down on Friday, February 25, 2011. The murder has sparked the new spate of violence in Gilgit leading to three deaths while two others sustained gun shots. The HRO has demanded removal of Pakistani security forces from Gilgit-Baltistan and have called these personnel biased against the natives on the sectarian lines.
Brussels: BNF strongly condemn the killing of Mir Nawaz advocate, who was an open minded and non-prejudice political leader of Gilgit city. The string of killing, torturing and harassment by creating bunkers allover Gilgit City by Pakistani rangers and intelligence agency is the main reason behind the unrest in the region. The plundering of the resources by keeping the indigenous people below poverty line and harassment of the whole Gilgit City is the main objective of the occupation regime of Pakistan. We don't think, the killers are arrested in the presence of Pakistani forces and its occupation regime, because their design is to divide and rule and rob all their resources and make them the poorest of the world, so to keep the soul and body should be the whole purpose of the indigenous people
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the bodies of two disappeared persons have been found in a remote area. The bodies bore bullet wounds and marks of torture. Both victims were abducted from Karachi, Sindh province at different times but their bodies were found together 500 kilometers near the Gwader district, Balochistan province. Both the bodies were lying side by side in an abandoned place. It was witnessed that both were abducted by persons in uniformed and in plain clothes that identified themselves to the onlookers as being from the state security agencies.
Pakistan Rangers of Punjab province, a division of the security forces which has been given the task of search operation in the Gilgit town, were recently confronted by the residents of Domial in Gilgit City on February 22, when they tried to barge into houses and harass local women.
According to the local sources, the villagers came on the street raising slogans against oppressive Pakistani security forces and pelted stones. As the forces clashed with the residents, it led to several injuries. In one incident, security forces entered into house of Zafar Iqbal, where he was beaten brutally in front of his family members. The villagers complained to the media that security forces enter private residential areas without search and arrest warrants and illegally detain civilians and torture them. They also stated that the personnel climb over the walls to enter into the houses and harass the women. The natives also accuse the forces of stealing valuables from the houses.
Police chief of Gilgit city, Mohammad Bashir termed the incident as ‘a routine matter’. He said, ‘Such incidents happen all the time and should not be a reason [for the media] to be concerned about." He then said, "The confrontation with the civilians rather makes the security forces courageous.”
The search operation which started in July of 2010 has continued and several people from Gilgit are still missing.
Beijing, Feb 23: The Supreme People's Court has approved the execution of four Uighurs convicted of terrorism and murder in China's far western region of Xinjiang, state media said Wednesday.
The court approved death sentences against Abudula Tueryacun and Tuerhong Tuerdi after they were convicted of taking part in a bomb attack targeting local police in Xinjiang's Aksu city in August, the Xinjiang Daily reported.
The Chairman of the Balawaristan National Front (BNF), Abdul Hamid Khan, has criticized a move by the Government of Pakistan to raise the issue of Gilgit-Baltistan in the country's Parliament.
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has consistently reported in the recent weeks on the issue of the government's refusal to take action on the incitement to murder and civil disobedience by religious extremists. Several high profile cases have been reported on both matters by the AHRC and other international NGOs, however, the government has taken no action to either arrest or halt the messages of hatred and intimidation. Mullahs are openly using the loud speaker systems of their Mosques to broadcast their messages of hatred which is, itself, against the law. However, once again the government has not made any attempt to prevent this.
ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME
Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-036-2011
Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a human rights defender was abducted by the officials of the Frontier Cops (FC) while he was going to attend court proceedings in the session court on December 21, 2010 and has been missing since then. Before his abduction he had told his friends and relatives that he had been receiving threats from some officials and he feared that he might be abducted by the law enforcement agencies. He was abducted in the presence of five police officials who were escorting him to the court.
Balawaristan (Pakistan and China Occupied Gilgit Baltistan) borders with the Wakhan corridor of Badakhshan, Afghanistan to the northwest, Uyghur (China Occupied Xinjiang) to the east, Indian Control State of Jammu & Kashmir to the South and Pakistan occupied Chitral and Shhenaki Kohistan to the South west.
concludes Selig Harrison, Walter Anderson, Lisa Curtis, Syed Iqbal Hasnain, Mumtaz Khan, Senge Sering and Imtiaz Hussain during a seminar at Johns Hopkins University, Washington D.C.
On February 4, 2011, the South Asia Studies at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in collaboration with the Institute for Gilgit-Baltistan Studies held a seminar titled "The Regional Implications of China's Growing Presence in Gilgit-Baltistan". Prominent among the participants were Selig Harrison, executive director of the Center for International Policy; Syed Iqbal Hasnain, distinguished visiting fellow of environmental security at the Stimson Center; Lisa Curtis, senior research fellow at the Asian Studies Center at the Heritage Foundation; Mumtaz Khan, executive director of the International Center for Peace and Democracy; Imtiaz Hussain, president of the Gilgit Baltistan National Congress; Senge Hasnan Sering, president of the Institute for Gilgit Baltistan Studies; and Walter Andersen (moderator), director of the South Asia Studies Program.
The question in hand is right to self-determination, which means the people have yet to exercise their right. This right is hanging for last 63 years because Pakistan failed to withdraw its troops for the territory of the state of J&K as agreed with UN. The non compliance on behalf of Pakistan is the main reason for the suffering of the people be that of Jammu, the valley of Kashmir, Laddakh, Gilgit Baltistan or PoK (Pakistan occupied Kashmir).
Bordering Afghanistan, Tajikistan, China, India, and Pakistan, and as part of the larger disputed state of Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan is one of the most politically sensitive and geo-strategically situated regions in the world. As a resource-rich region abundant in minerals and energy-sources, a lynchpin to access Afghanistan, the Middle East, the Indian Ocean region, and Africa, and as a location ideal for monitoring military activity in the region, China has over the past decade become increasingly involved in Gilgit-Baltistan both strategically and via economic investment. With Chinese involvement in the region comes a wide array of political, security, and economic sensitivities, but also a slew of environmental concerns as Chinese-funded infrastructure projects develop rapidly. Please join us on Friday, February 4th 2011 as we host a distinguished panel of experts to discuss “China’s Growing Presence in Gilgit-Baltistan”
A light lunch will be served
R.S.V.P. to Rahul Madhavan by Wednesday, February 4th by e-mailing
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
.
A valid photo I.D. is required to enter the building
Chilast blast has not been organized to hamper Diamar Dam but to make it sure that there is no protest or hindrance against Diamar Dam. This is the handwork of Pakistani inteligence agencie to create harrasment among the local people by bombing girls Schools just liek Talibaan, so nobody could dare to protest against this dam. If anybody dares he will be declared as Talibaan. The main reason behind this crime is1. To depute more Pakistani troops (Rangers, FC and Army etc) with the intention to deal the so-called Talibaan
, but thie actula design to deal those people who oppose Diamar dam and Pakistani occupation. 2. To bag for USA dollars as its past practice, by showing the so-called threat of Talibaan on this new front.
Brussels, 24 January 2011 – “What was not achieved by Genghis Khan is being done in the so‐called name of progress.” This is the view of Rebiya Kadeer, Nobel Peace Prize nominee and President of the World Uyghur Congress, on the steady and unrelenting destruction of the historic Silk Road city of Kashgar. Without meaningful public consultation and omitted from applications to UNESCO’s World Heritage listing, Kashgar’s unique urban fabric is being lost day by day, month by month as a result of Communist Party politics. Cities have embraced the twenty‐first century without losing their identity – but Kashgar is losing its identity as Beijing’s central policy seeks to transform the city into a touristic theme park.
Today on 2nd Jan 2011 BNSO and BNYO has to organized a program in Abbottabd Press Club. The Press Club had taken money from hte organizers in advance for this program according to it rule. But when student and youth arrived to the venue, Police had baricaded and did not alow them. While Press Club representatives denied by saying that they can do nothing because this has been banned by Pakistani intelligence agencies. This is enough to say that thier is no freedom no democracy for the people of Balawaristan (Pakistan and China Occupied Gilgit Baltistan) whether its direct Martial Law or Martial Law behind the so-called Political parties. BNYO and BNSO protested against this un-democratic attitude of Zardari government and agencies involvement in the political process. It also indicated tat the media in Pakistan is only free what suits ISI and its Military regime. It also indicates that media is under total control of ISI and MI. It also indicates that most of the media representatives work as sttoge for Pakistani intelligence agencies to save their skin and to get more benefits.
Before this Abbottabad administration had not allowed Diamar Students and KNM.
Mirza Wajahat Hassan Khan left for Dubai unaccompanied on 28th October 2010, for a family business venture. He being a sugar patient with a broken knee and hypoglycemia patient, usually takes along his wife and sons but as his son Captain Danyal Hassan was to be struck off from army service on 5th November 2010, and his wife had domestic compulsions, so he went alone. He was to come back on 1st November 2010, i.e. the independence day of Gilgit Baltistan, so as to participate in the ensuing political activities in Gilgit and Kashmir. He did not returned on the given date and on 2nd November 2010, probe by the family members revealed the information that he checked out from Palm hotel Dubai and was dropped at the airport by the hotel transport. On inquiring, it was authentically revealed from the PIA (Pakistan International Airlines) computer records that he was being offloaded from the flight and was probably taken into custody either by Dubai immigration or ISI in connivance with Dubai Intelligence on a concocted charge. On 3rd November 2010, Mirza Nadir Hassan Khan along with Danyal Hassan Khan went to the UAE Embassy to check the whereabouts of Wajahat Hassan Khan and were informed by the UAE ambassador, that he boarded the PIA plane and disappeared in Pakistan. Consequently, Mirza Wajahat Hassan called up on the night of 3rd November 2010, and said or was made to say that he was alright and would take 2 to 3 more days in connection with the business. On the used telephone number, one Mr. Abdul Aziz Afghani was responding, only as and when, he deemed it fit to talk. He said that Mirza Wajahat Hassan is absolutely alright and is in good health and has checked out on 9th November 2010, from a Hotel in Dubai and has gone along with his Kashmiri friends and will be back home in 2 to 3 days before the Eid.
The eldest son of Colonel Mirza Hassan khan i.e. Mirza Iqtidar Hassan khan, in accordance with the given ideology of Colonel Mirza Hassan khan joined Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and struggled for the cause of the oppressed and tyrannised people of the State of J&K. Due to intense pulls and pressures, he died at the prime age of 42. His second son Mirza Wajahat Hassan Khan, an ex naval officer resigned from Pakistan navy after not obtaining security clearance for induction into sensitive organizations of the navy for being son of Colonel Mirza Hassan khan and thus being from an unwanted family background. He resigned from service and entered into the arena of uphill real politics of Gilgit Baltistan, to carry forward the 1947, initiated cause and struggle. He contested the 1987, election in the prime constituency of Gilgit-1 and won, despite numerous odds created by the establishment and the government of Pakistan. His success was declared null and void and a re-election was ordered. Before the re elections , the GHQ of Pakistan Army and its organs, engineered an unprecedented and enormously large scaled sectarian onslaught onto Gilgit, resulting into thousands of deaths, destruction of dozens of villages , mass migration in thousands and burning down of mosques and Imambargahs. Even after this carnage, he won the elections but his constituency was broken down to accommodate those who had lost and were the blue eyed.
Presentations of MEP Ryszard Czarnecki and Senge Hasnan Sering as well as the press release are attached below for those who are interested in learning about deteriorating socio-economic and political conditions in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Balochistan
(November 13, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) Syed Mehdi Shah, the Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), who has accompanied President Asif Ali Zardari to Guangdong in China to attend the inaugural function of the 16th Asian Games at Guangzhou, is being extended VIP treatment by the Chinese authorities. He is being treated on par with the other members of the Pakistani delegation, which has accompanied Zardari.
While introducing the provincial set-up in Gilgit-Baltistan, Islamabad had assured the local, non-local people as well as the international community that the new system would compensate for the slavery and deprivation the people of the region had gone through during the last 63 years. Not only that, the local people would also enjoy self rule and autonomy and the package would be a giant leap forward towards socio-economic development in the region which had so far remained mired in poverty, unemployment and backwardness. Moreover, after introduction of the system, the region would be opened up to the world and its rich culture, traditions and languages would be introduced at the international level. In short, through tall claims and flattery, the cunning rulers and the bureaucracy succeeded in temporarily trapping the gullible people of the region to achieve their vested interests. However, after a short span of time the conscientious and well informed people of the region have realized the reality and objectives of enforcing a non-elected and outsiders-dominated Council on the elective assembly of the region that has now exposed its .
Gilgit-Baltistan United Movement (GBUM) held a press conference to condemn cowardly act of the authorities, who have registered sedition case against progressive nationalist right defenders of Pakistan occupied Gilgit-Baltistan. The activists were holding a peaceful rally demanding relief goods and funds for the flashflood and landslide victims of Hunza-Gojal. Chairperson of GBUM, Manzoor Parwana while addressing the press conference at Skardo, Baltistan, said, “Sedition cases against peaceful flood victims has exposed the so-called democratic regime, which claims to have granted right of freedom of expression and political activity to the masses. Contrary to that, Pakistani agencies continue to obstruct socio-political gatherings, torture and detain activists and commit human rights violations with impunity. With the international community failing to notice, Gilgit-Baltistan continue to remain under colonial-rule.”
The appalling poverty, desolation, unemployment, worsening health conditions, malnourishment, tribal in-fighting, mounting corruption, support for drug barons and religious fundamentalism in historically peaceful and secular-oriented Baloch society are the domino effects of systematic policies imposed by the Islamabad super-establishment
Income Tax department has asked hardline Kashmiri separatist leader Hurriyat's Syed Ali Shah Geelani to file Rs 1.73 crore in tax dues over a period when he had not filed his returns after rejecting his appeal.
London, The Pakistani government must investigate the torture and killings of more than 40 Baloch leaders and political activists in the southwest over the past four months, human rights group Amnesty International said on Tuesday.
Uyghur Human Rights Activists to Stage Demonstration With Tibetan, Falun Gong, and Chinese Activists During Chinese President Hu Jintao’s Visit to France
On November 4, 2010 at 3:00 pm, during Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to Paris, the France Uyghur Community, a member organization of the World Uyghur Congress, will join Tibetan, Falun Gong, and Chinese human rights activists in Paris in protesting the Chinese government’s egregious and relentless human rights violations. Activists will peacefully march from the Parvis des Droits de l’Homme au Trocadéro à Paris to the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Paris. The march is being organized by l’Association de “la Communauté Tibétaine de France et ses Amis.”
Gilgit-Baltistan United Movement (GBUM) held a press conference to condemn cowardly act of the authorities, who have registered sedition case against progressive nationalist right defenders of Pakistan occupied Gilgit-Baltistan. The activists were holding a peaceful rally demanding relief goods and funds for the flashflood and landslide victims of Hunza-Gojal. Chairperson of GBUM, Manzoor Parwana while addressing the press conference at Skardo, Baltistan, said, “Sedition cases against peaceful flood victims has exposed the so-called democratic regime, which claims to have granted right of freedom of expression and political activity to the masses. Contrary to that, Pakistani agencies continue to obstruct socio-political gatherings, torture and detain activists and commit human rights violations with impunity. With the international community failing to notice, Gilgit-Baltistan continue to remain under colonial-rule.”
Gilgit-Baltistan United Movement (GBUM) held a press conference to condemn cowardly act of the authorities, who have registered sedition case against progressive nationalist right defenders of Pakistan occupied Gilgit-Baltistan. The activists were holding a peaceful rally demanding relief goods and funds for the flashflood and landslide victims of Hunza-Gojal. Chairperson of GBUM, Manzoor Parwana while addressing the press conference at Skardo, Baltistan, said, “Sedition cases against peaceful flood victims has exposed the so-called democratic regime, which claims to have granted right of freedom of expression and political activity to the masses. Contrary to that, Pakistani agencies continue to obstruct socio-political gatherings, torture and detain activists and commit human rights violations with impunity. With the international community failing to notice, Gilgit-Baltistan continue to remain under colonial-rule.”
GENEVA (27 October 2010) – Three United Nations human rights treaty bodies on Monday issued a joint appeal* to the Pakistani authorities and relief agencies to strengthen the human rights-based approach of their efforts, in order to prevent further victimization of the most vulnerable population affected by the country’s worst monsoon flooding in a century.
Gilgit-Baltistan is facing widespread poverty, unemployment and backwardness besides shameless corruption, nepotism and malpractice in all public and private sector organizations. However, all the tall claims made by rulers sitting in Islamabad to bring revolutionary changes in the system have become hollow. According to the latest
information, Islamabad has so far released only 12 per cent of the budget it had sanctioned for Gilgit-Baltistan for the fiscal year 2010-11. Due to shortage of funds, all departments are unable to run their affairs smoothly and are at the verge of collapse.
Let us not forget 45 per cent of the people of Jammu & Kashmir are Dogras, Punjabis, Paharis, Bakarwals, Gujjars, Buddhists and Shias
There has been a basic flaw in New Delhi’s approach to an ‘internal dialogue’ with people in the multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-religious State of Jammu & Kashmir. This ‘internal dialogue’ has been almost exclusively with the leadership of the All-Party Hurriyat Conference based in the Kashmir Valley. This, despite the fact that roughly 45 per cent of the people of Jammu & Kashmir are not ‘Kashmiris’ who live in the Kashmir Valley, but are Dogras, Punjabis, Paharis, Bakarwals, Gujjars, Buddhist Ladakhis and Balti Shias in Kargil.
SKARDU: Harassment of common citizens and disregard to sanctity of house privacy during search operations in the Gilgit city by security forces has made it clear that Pakistani rulers are voluntarily leaving Gilgit-Balatistan and Islamabad does not need the region anymore. Because had the rulers needed the region they would not have let loose such type of terror in the region and the rulers would not have forgotten that the region was part of the Kashmir dispute and its status to be resolved under the UN resolutions.These views were expressed by Chairman Gilgit-Balatistan United Movement (GBUM) Mmanzoor Hussain Parwana in a press statement issued here.
