Another promise of uplift

Now it is turn of government of Nawaz Sharif to tackle the woes and grievances of the many and varied peoples of G-B

Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) has been on the receiving end of innumerable pledges and promises by successive governments for the last 50 years. Often they come to nothing, or are only partially achieved. Some never get beyond the purely conceptual stage. Now it is the turn of the government of Nawaz Sharif to tackle the woes and grievances of the many and varied peoples of G-B. Top of their wish list is the unresolved issue of its constitutional status which has remained unresolved — indeed largely unaddressed — since Partition. This means that the people of G-B are unable to get representation in the legislature, a long-standing bone of contention. A committee has now been formed to decide the constitutional status of the region, but as Pakistan administers G-B under a United Nations Mandate and India still has claim over some or all of the area, there is unlikely to be much by way of a resolution in the foreseeable future.

Another matter tabled by the prime minister on his one-day visit to G-B was the much-vexed issue of the extension to the runway which would enable jet passenger aircraft to come and go. The land for this has been available since the early 1990s but wrangling between local groups and the passing tensions of the area have meant that the much-needed extension has never been built. There may be a more achievable goal in the widening of the Skardu-Jaglot road, another piece of long-overdue infrastructure improvement, and the news that Hunza and Nagar are to be administratively separated is to be welcomed. There was a time not so long ago that G-B was the hub of a thriving tourism industry, thronged with trekkers and other tourists who come to wonder at the basket of natural marvels that bejewel our northern areas. The tourism industry is largely collapsed, principally because of the deterioration in the national security situation. With improvements on that front beginning to be felt it is not impossible to believe that tourism could once again flourish in G-B. Let us hope this is not another false dawn.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16^th, 2015.

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