BRUSSELES: The chairman of Balawaristan National Front (BNF), Mr Abdul Hamid Khan has called upon the international community to extend its assistance to the affected people of the debris lake in Attabad but stressed that the aid should be given directly to the people instead of the government of Pakistan."By keeping in mind the past experience and culture of the Pakistani rulers, world community should help the effected people directly," he said in a letter to Baroness Catherine Ashton, High Representative Foreign Affairs and Security Policy European Commission.He said the people of Gilgit-Baltistan were helplessly witnessing the desperate residents of Attabad, Hunza and the apathy of Pakistani regime towards their sufferings. This is the criminal negligence of government of Pakistan towards Attabad, Hunza's newly born natural lake affected people. He alleged that colonial masters of Pakistan and its military intentionally let the lake to grow and eliminate the whole area up to Shhenaki Kohistan, otherwise a local contractor could have burst the lake much earlier if he had been given contract in January 2010 when the mountain slide blocked River Hunza at Attabad. "This is very agonizing situation for the people of this land as they see their life time saving in land, agriculture, livestock & houses diminishing daily in front of their hopeless eyes and colonial masters doing nothing to save them. This human made disaster is affecting their courage and the fear that the vast water reserve will burst is mentally very terrorizing for them."

He said that this was not for the first time, as the experience during the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan administered Kashmir showed misuse f billions of aid by Pakistan. Besides, we should not forget the plight of poor women who fell into the hands of human smugglers and ended up in the brothels of Pakistan, he added. The BNF chief said the much publicized Benazir Langar (a traditional kitchen for beggars in Pakistan) in the name of late Benazir Bhutto was just a political show off by government of Pakistan. He said the promised money promised to be spending on the kitchen had not been released from Benazir Bank personal account.

Therefore, it is a ploy to hoodwink the international community that Pakistan is helping the affected people. The aim of the Langar is actually to disgrace the tradition of local people and seek sympathy from the international community. Neither the people of Hunza or Gilgit Baltistan need any alms in the name of a dead person like Benazir nor had Benazir donated anything personally for this area and its population in her life time. "We are afraid that government of Pakistan will use the misery of this region to seek monetary help from international community and most of that aid will go into the pockets of its rulers. "We humbly request to the international community to give aid directly to the effected people not through the Disaster Management of Pakistan military and civil regime if the world community really wants to help the people. The way aid is distributed by the authorities is corrupt and most needy people are always deprived." He thanked Ban-ki-Moon, Secretary General of UN, for sending an expert for the assessment of the devastating water blockade in Hunza and its worst impact on the other areas along the river of Hunza, Gilgit and then finally Indus. He appealed to the United Nations and environmentalists to look into the matter of 4,000 blasts done in Gindayi, Yasen of Gilgit and thousands other areas by Chinese mining companies which has resulted in the melting of great glaciers and huge mountain sliding in this area which has completely disturbed the natural balance and ecosystem of this part of the world. When local people protested against these blasts , instead of hearing them Pakistani regime arrested and tortured them, he said. He said 22 natives of Yasen, Gindaye are still being trialed for manifesting against the crime done to their motherland.