Due to sectarian clashes, the socio-economic condition is deteriorating by the day.
SKARDU: Ignorance on the part of the government in Islamabad has made Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) poverty-stricken. Due to sectarian clashes, the socio-economic condition is deteriorating by the day. People still feel threatened while travelling on the Karakoram Highway (KKH). Many people have been murdered on the KKH at point blank range in the last two years but the culprits are still at large. Tourism has declined in the area, which is a huge setback to an already poverty-stricken area. G-B has been denied political rights for too long despite their longstanding loyalty to Pakistan.
The government should take the following steps to alleviate the conditions in G-B: 1) provide the right of vote in the National Assembly of Pakistan; 2) effective measures to stop sectarian violence; 3) those who have been involved in sectarian violence must be punished immediately; 4) create opportunities for higher studies for the youth of G-B; 5) take steps to eliminate poverty by using local resources in collaboration with internationals experts to create employment opportunities.
Syed Imtiaz Ahmed
Published in The Express Tribune, February 22nd, 2014.
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