Thwarting threats : Assembly discusses report on terrorists infiltrating Gilgit

Lawmaker says region becoming epicenter of militant activities.

GILGIT:

Acting speaker of the Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) Assembly on Thursday took note of a report regarding infiltration of high-profile terrorists into the province. He asked the government to take all precautionary measures to thwart any threat to the region.

“This is an important issue and the authorities must take it seriously,” said Deputy Speaker Jamil Ahmed, while chairing proceedings in Speaker Wazir Baig’s absence.

Ahmed’s comments came after a lawmaker, Raziuddin Rizvi, told the house a militant belonging to the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi group had entered G-B to carry out terrorist activities. “A TV channel quoting Rehman Malik carried this information on Wednesday night and I am asking you not to take lightly,” Rizvi told the house.

Nawaz Naji, a nationalist legislator, said G-B was increasingly becoming an epicentre for international conspiracies because its geographical location is such where Chinese and American interests clash. Naji asked why the interior minister was spreading panic through his messages instead of arresting militants entering the region.



Ayub Shah, a Pakistan Peoples Party legislator from Ghizer valley, regretted the fact that a major chunk of the development budget was spent on law and order every year. He suggested the government create a separate budget for security expenditures.

In a question-answer session, Shah also pointed out that women coming to G-B to study or work face immense hardship due to the lack of a women’s hostel in the capital town. He said one such hostel was occupied by the G-B Scouts, and the fate of the other, which is under construction, was not known.

Education Minister Ali Madad Sher, on the other hand, claimed G-B Souts occupied the building because they did not have their own office. “The building under construction will be allocated to working women and female students coming to Gilgit from far-flung areas.”

As the session concluded, legislators complained they were not given satisfactory answers to their queries.

Earlier in the session, the house prayed for the departed soul of Parveen Rehman, a director for the Orangi Pilot Project who was killed in Karachi on Wednesday.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2013.