GB smouldering with sectarianism

Author : DJ Mathal

From : Gilgit Baltistan

Ocupation : Chief Editor of Bangesahar Newspaper

Email : baangnews@gmail.com

Though an uneasy calm prevails in Gilgit Baltistan, there is lava boiling beneath the surface. Since long, the rulers sitting in Islamabad have very happily controlled the region, plundered its resources and also enjoyed ruling the locals, but they never gave peace and prosperity to the region. Instead, they worked to divide the masses on different lines as a result today the people of the whole region seem to be pitched against and blood-thirsty of each other. Each group is staging sit-ins and coming up with demands which are never possible to be fulfilled. It may be noted that the seed of sectarianism was sowed in the region in the 1970s which has now become a giant tree. The roots of this tree is soaked in the blood of hundreds of innocent people and the sapling has been protected by thousands eager to behead anyone trying to harm the tree. Those who blame the dictatorship of Zia for the scourge of sectarianism in the region forget the fact that it was initiated during the tenure of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as the prime minister in the 1970s. They also forget the fact that the number of people killed due to the Shia-Sunni strife also reached an unprecedented record during the current tenure of the PPP. Besides, nobody has taken notice of the fact that since 1970 arms and ammunition have been coming to the region. These are not small-scale arms but ones which are normally used by armies in wars against their enemies. At present, the situation is such that arms and ammunition worth billions of rupees have been stored in the Gilgit city and its adjoining areas. Where are these lethal weapons coming from? They are not manufactured locally rather make their way into the volatile region from the neighboring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is also intriguing why hundreds of security check posts established all along the routes leading to Gilgit-Baltistan cannot check the supply of these illegal arms and ammunition to the region and always look the other way. It is alleged that security agencies are behind the supply of these weapons into the region so that they can be used by the bandits in the killing of innocent people in the name of sectarianism. While the people of the region remained as silent spectator to all the conspiracies, their enemies succeeded in stoking the scourge of sectarian hatred and today this menace has reached almost all parts of the region from the Gilgit city. What to think of the schism and lack of trust between areas like Astore, Nagar, Baltistan etc., even member of the provincial cabinet are pointing fingers at each other for backing different sectarian groups in the region. What are the reasons the scourge of sectarianism is not been checked in Gilgit-Baltistan when its stronghold in Jhang in the province of Punjab has been clear of the problem. It seems that no one is serious in maintaining peace in Gilgit Baltistan. The people of Gilgit Baltistan have been complaining that under a conspiracy they being pitched against each other. But it is very strange and intriguing too that despite knowing well the conspiracies the masses in the region have done nothing against the issue and become part of it. Even the local sectarian groups have done more harm to the peace and tranquility of the region than the establishment and security agencies of Pakistan. Many ministers in the province are complaining that under a well-hatched conspiracy law and order situation is being created in the region and also it was for the first time that members of a particular religious group were targeted and killed on the Karakoram Highway. But one can ask the ministers and other authorities why they remain a silent spectator to the gory incidents even knowing well who are behind all these incidents. What happened on April 3 was not a spontaneous incident rather an environment had been prepared for it for the last about two years or so. The so-called chief minister had been seeing all the drama happening in front of his eyes but he adopted an ostrich-like attitude in the wild hope that the situation would normalize itself. The chief minister even did not bother to implement the recommendations of an all-party conference, peace committee and various Jirgas to maintain peace in the region and after that if someone was hoping that there would be peace in the region was perhaps living the fools’ paradise. It is a fact that Mehdi Shah has no interest in restoring peace in Gilgit Baltistan but where he will go now when the fire from which he used to flee has reached his own hometown. It is embarrassing that when Gilgit Baltistan was burning in sectarian fire and innocent people were falling to the bullets of the terror elements the chief msiniter considered it important to leave the region and visit Garhi Khudabakhsh to offer fateha at the tomb of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. If there was an iota of expectation among the people of Gilgit Baltistan regarding the chief minister that also vanished into the murky air that day. For the last about three years since he came to power in the region, he has utterly failed to implement even a single announcement made to improve the law and order situation in the region. The time is running out of the rulers very fast. It is need of the time that the government, as a first priority, should bring to books all those behind the killing of innocent people on April 3 even if it has to use the army to arrest the culprits. Unfortunately, it seems that the government ahs learnt no lesson from the Kohistan tragedy and did nothing to avoid such happenings in future. It is the right of every citizen to fee safe wherever he goes irrespective of his religious affiliation. But what is happening is tragic. People are being hauled off from transport buses and brutally killed only because of their names sounding a particular religious sect. If we have reached such an impasse where civilization stands to protect humanity?Though an uneasy calm prevails in Gilgit Baltistan, there is lava boiling beneath the surface. Since long, the rulers sitting in Islamabad have very happily controlled the region, plundered its resources and also enjoyed ruling the locals, but they never gave peace and prosperity to the region. Instead, they worked to divide the masses on different lines as a result today the people of the whole region seem to be pitched against and blood-thirsty of each other. Each group is staging sit-ins and coming up with demands which are never possible to be fulfilled. It may be noted that the seed of sectarianism was sowed in the region in the 1970s which has now become a giant tree. The roots of this tree is soaked in the blood of hundreds of innocent people and the sapling has been protected by thousands eager to behead anyone trying to harm the tree. Those who blame the dictatorship of Zia for the scourge of sectarianism in the region forget the fact that it was initiated during the tenure of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as the prime minister in the 1970s. They also forget the fact that the number of people killed due to the Shia-Sunni strife also reached an unprecedented record during the current tenure of the PPP. Besides, nobody has taken notice of the fact that since 1970 arms and ammunition have been coming to the region. These are not small-scale arms but ones which are normally used by armies in wars against their enemies. At present, the situation is such that arms and ammunition worth billions of rupees have been stored in the Gilgit city and its adjoining areas. Where are these lethal weapons coming from? They are not manufactured locally rather make their way into the volatile region from the neighboring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is also intriguing why hundreds of security check posts established all along the routes leading to Gilgit-Baltistan cannot check the supply of these illegal arms and ammunition to the region and always look the other way. It is alleged that security agencies are behind the supply of these weapons into the region so that they can be used by the bandits in the killing of innocent people in the name of sectarianism. While the people of the region remained as silent spectator to all the conspiracies, their enemies succeeded in stoking the scourge of sectarian hatred and today this menace has reached almost all parts of the region from the Gilgit city. What to think of the schism and lack of trust between areas like Astore, Nagar, Baltistan etc., even member of the provincial cabinet are pointing fingers at each other for backing different sectarian groups in the region. What are the reasons the scourge of sectarianism is not been checked in Gilgit-Baltistan when its stronghold in Jhang in the province of Punjab has been clear of the problem. It seems that no one is serious in maintaining peace in Gilgit Baltistan. The people of Gilgit Baltistan have been complaining that under a conspiracy they being pitched against each other. But it is very strange and intriguing too that despite knowing well the conspiracies the masses in the region have done nothing against the issue and become part of it. Even the local sectarian groups have done more harm to the peace and tranquility of the region than the establishment and security agencies of Pakistan. Many ministers in the province are complaining that under a well-hatched conspiracy law and order situation is being created in the region and also it was for the first time that members of a particular religious group were targeted and killed on the Karakoram Highway. But one can ask the ministers and other authorities why they remain a silent spectator to the gory incidents even knowing well who are behind all these incidents. What happened on April 3 was not a spontaneous incident rather an environment had been prepared for it for the last about two years or so. The so-called chief minister had been seeing all the drama happening in front of his eyes but he adopted an ostrich-like attitude in the wild hope that the situation would normalize itself. The chief minister even did not bother to implement the recommendations of an all-party conference, peace committee and various Jirgas to maintain peace in the region and after that if someone was hoping that there would be peace in the region was perhaps living the fools’ paradise. It is a fact that Mehdi Shah has no interest in restoring peace in Gilgit Baltistan but where he will go now when the fire from which he used to flee has reached his own hometown. It is embarrassing that when Gilgit Baltistan was burning in sectarian fire and innocent people were falling to the bullets of the terror elements the chief msiniter considered it important to leave the region and visit Garhi Khudabakhsh to offer fateha at the tomb of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. If there was an iota of expectation among the people of Gilgit Baltistan regarding the chief minister that also vanished into the murky air that day. For the last about three years since he came to power in the region, he has utterly failed to implement even a single announcement made to improve the law and order situation in the region. The time is running out of the rulers very fast. It is need of the time that the government, as a first priority, should bring to books all those behind the killing of innocent people on April 3 even if it has to use the army to arrest the culprits. Unfortunately, it seems that the government ahs learnt no lesson from the Kohistan tragedy and did nothing to avoid such happenings in future. It is the right of every citizen to fee safe wherever he goes irrespective of his religious affiliation. But what is happening is tragic. People are being hauled off from transport buses and brutally killed only because of their names sounding a particular religious sect. If we have reached such an impasse where civilization stands to protect humanity?

About Author: DJ Mathal is from Gilgit Baltistan and is Chief Editor of Bangesahar Newspaper .He/She can be reached through baangnews@gmail.com

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