Deweaponisation: Govt urged to buy weapons from locals

NATO allocated $500 million in Afghanistan and people handed over their arms in return for the money.

GILGIT: Perhaps the government should purchase all weapons in Gilgit as a means to unarm the city. The suggestion came from Pakistan Muslim League-N Gilgit-Baltistan’s President Hafizur Rehan here on Sunday. Rehman said NATO had allocated $500 million in Afghanistan for this purpose and achieved the desired results as people handed over their arms in return for the money. He believed the G-B government can use a similar tactic to unarm Gilgit. “If the government does this, the poor people will have benefited with some money which some money which they can then invest in a positive way,” he told the The Express Tribune on Sunday. Also the government must take measures to stop smuggling of arms into the region, he added. The PML-N chief’s comments came at a time when Gilgit saw sectarian motivated violence that has left at least four people dead while seven others injured in the past few weeks.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^st, 2011.