“I withdrew my resignation after the government assured me of fulfilling the commitment made to me earlier,” Sadpara told The Express Tribune on Wednesday from his hometown Skardu.
The chief minister assured him of allotting a piece of land for the construction of a mountaineering school – a proposal also consented to the president during a meeting with Sadpara in Islamabad last year.
Sadpara resigned last month after security officials at Skardu airport manhandled him when he tried to meet President Asif Ali Zardari. “I felt insulted when I was not allowed even for five minutes to see the president while he was in my town,” he said.
The mountain climber from Sadpara, a village about seven kilometres from Skardu city, became the second Pakistani to scale the 29,028 feet Mount Everest in May 2011. Nazir Sabir was the first Pakistani to climb the world’s highest peak in 2000.
In recognition of his success, Sadpara was offered a police instructor job by the government. “I had taken the extreme step of resigning out of sheer disappointment, but it is okay now,” he said.
Sadpara, a father of four, is the only person from Gilgit-Baltistan to have scaled all five major peaks in Pakistan, including K-2 in 1981, Gasherbrum II and Broad Peak in 1982, and Gasherbrum I (Hidden Peak) in 1992.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 30th, 2012.
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We must encourage our mountaineers and mountaineering.We are blessed with five 8000 meters high peaks,many seven thousanders,but we failed to be benifitted so far.After becoming separate province I recommend the Chief Minister to take concrete steps in this regard and do some marketing of Tourism and Mountaineering potential of Gilgit Baltistan province.We are unable to make a musium in Skardu related to mountains.Thanks to Italians who construcred little display room in the premises of K-2 Motel. Tourism being provincial subject/ministry after 18 amendment needs to be addressed by locals and not Islamabad.I visited this area in 1986,being part of Army Expedition to Gasherbrum-2,1988 as part of SiaKangri Expedition,1989 Nanga Parbat Expedition,1996 as part of Masherbrum-2 Expedition and lastly 2001 as LO on Broad Peak.I know the potential of this region,I wish we can do some thing in this regard. Competition like Karakuram Marethon race can be arranged on Baltoro.I can help to find the sponsors.Thanks
He is a great mountaineer and needs to be respected for his achievements.
Well there is almost no post without a negative comment in it !!
There is a difference between mountaineer and high altitude porter. There is a protocol to meet the president of the country. If he is a mountaineer, We would be glad to know his expeditions. If he is a high altitude Porter, to keep the record correct which expedition and team he fallowed so that can be checked with their log if his claim is correct. I am not bitching with him, you just cannot claim. Alpine club should have record. All records can be verified. He is my hero if his claim is correct. It is media who should verify the claim before printing any claim.