PTI urges G-B chief minister to step down

Says govt ignoring brewing crisis as done in case of Faizabad sit-in

ISLAMABAD: As shutter-down strikes and protests by traders, political workers and civil society activists against ‘high taxation’ entered the seventh day in most parts of the northern region, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has demanded of Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Hafeezur Rehman to immediately step down

“The federal government and the government in Gilgit-Baltistan are oblivious to growing uncertainty in the area,” said PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhary said in a statement on Wednesday.

He said the people of G-B had been protesting on roads since December 21 against all taxes imposed in the region under the GB Tax Adaptation Act, 2012.

“The PML-N government has shut its eyes to the crisis in G-B just the way it tried to ignore the situation that emerged after changes in the clause concerning the Finality of Prophethood,” he said.

“The strike has entered the seventh day despite extreme weather conditions in most parts of Gilgit-Baltistan while the CM is relaxing in Islamabad,” he added.

The PTI spokesperson said the G-B region was a fundamental part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, and the situation there was being manipulated deliberately to appease the Indian lobby.

“The demands of the people of G-B should be given due consideration,” he said, as he called on the government to take immediate measures to prevent further worsening of the situation.