Security concerns: Passengers spend night in Chilas after convoy blocked on KKH

GILGIT:

Hundreds of passengers from Gilgit-Baltistan spent the night in Chilas, near contested land, after Kohistan police refused to allow buses to travel on Karakoram Highway (KKH) due to security threats.

A large number of passengers were on their way to Rawalpindi from various parts of G-B on Thursday when Kohistan police stopped a convoy of over 30 buses at Harban. They were informed they would not be allowed to travel due to security threats in Kohistan.

Many buses were forced to return and passengers spent the night at Chilas, the last town in G-B before Kohistan on the KKH. The convoy left for Rawalpindi on Thursday.

Rewind

On Wednesday, landowners in Kohistan continued their protest for the eleventh consecutive day over delays in making the Basri Boundary Commission Report public.

A journey cut short

“Passengers were infuriated [when the convoys were stopped at Harban] as they did not want to spend the night in the wilderness under extreme weather conditions,” a passenger told The Express Tribune. “This led to a brawl and then police resorted to aerial firing to disperse the passengers. For me, this is a form of humiliation and [a violation of] human rights.”

Abdul Hameed, another passenger, said the situation generated panic. A majority of them had heard stories of mass killings by militants clad in police uniforms and were caught off guard when their convoy was stopped.

Unexpected sojourn

The plight of the passengers did not end when they reached Chilas. A majority of passengers could not afford to stay at hotels. However, there was no other alternative as the temperature plummeted 10 degrees below freezing point.

“Most of the passengers stayed in buses the entire night,” Hameed said.

Although some passengers checked into hotels, the absence of heaters at the hotels created more difficulties
for them.

Safety precautions

A police official at the control room told The Express Tribune, “Chilas police remained alert throughout the night after buses were parked in the town.”Security was tightened on KKH following organised attacks on passenger buses between 2011 and 2012 which resulted in several casualties.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 1^st, 2016.