Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamat (ASWJ) president Maulana Ahmed Ludhianvi said on Tuesday that his party would resist any attempt to set up an Aga Khan state in the Gilgit-Baltistan region. He was speaking at a press conference in Bahawalpur. He said the Defence of Pakistan Council of which (ASWJ) is a part would protect national interests. The council, he added, would defeat all conspiracies against the country. Ludhianvi also demanded that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani immediately step down.

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Express Tribune Readers Comments

Chengaiz Khan

I have a gentle comment on the above statement that Agha Khan’s interest. Pakistan is the only country in the world where innocent people are killed by just for no reason but they are Muslims. These contractors of Islam religion so called ASWJ headed by the international wanted criminal have all their interest in money. So stop these bullshits and dont forget that the first president of All India Muslim league was Agha Khan III under the umbrella this country came into exist. Hundreds of innocent people killed on way to Gilgit by sunni extremist – is this Islam?

Avicenna

I can understand where ASWJ is coming from! I think its got nothing to do with Aga Khan state but the fear of losing their grip on innocent citizens of Gilgit-Baltistan region and Pakistan in general.

We always talk about righteousness yet we don’t do anything to support our fellow human beings and in this case our brothers and sisters in Islam who are struggling for thier livelihoods. I have one question only for Maulana Ahmed Ludhianvi – What is ASWJ (ot its affiliates) doing to alleviate poverty and improve lives of their fellow brethren mentally, physically and spiritually???

The Prophet (PBUH) always helped everyone, regardless of their beliefs or tribe. And that is Islam my dear brother!!!

If you can not help anyone, then please stay on the sidelines and let others do the right thing as Islam and its ethics teach us… you might learn a thing or two…

Iqbal

First of all im not an ismaili, follower of agha khan but i have met him twice when i was elected reperesentative in gilgit. He has done a lot of work to improve the life of people of GB for the last 30 years Through AKDN ,AKHS, and other networks regardless of race and religion. He has always stressed for education ,and female education has improved in our area due to his efforts. Blaming him to establish a state in GB is just a stupid idea of the sick minds.These statements are given to gain the popularity by rejected people. we should not give importance to such statements.

Khan

First of All, It was the Aga khan 3rd Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah the first president of All India Muslim leage who led the Struggle for creating Pakistan and now its the The Aga Khan 4th who is working in the development of Pakistan in the feild of Education, Health, social, economical, rural and urban development without any race or religion. Aga khan wants pakistan to be a prosperous Muslim country, based on the true values of Islam.

the claim of so called ASWJ president regarding Gilgit-Baltistan is useless and baseless.

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Published in The Express Tribune

Gilgit-Baltistan has been divided into three divisions to ensure better administration.

This was announced by the Chief Minister Mehdi Shah on Tuesday. “We have decided to divide the region into three divisions for better administrative control,” Mehdi Shah told reporters at his residence. He said that a decision to this effect was taken in the cabinet meeting held on Tuesday.

Giving details, he said the first division would comprise towns including Gilgit, Hunza-Nagar and Ghizer districts while Astore and Diamer districts would be included in the second division. Similarly he said Baltistan would comprise the third division which has already been notified.

“The decision has been taken in accordance with the people’s demands and a resolution passed by the assembly,” he said, adding that Chalat valley of Hunza-Nagar, Chorebutt of Ghanche, Phandar of Ghizer and Gultari of Skardu districts were notified as subdivisions.

He said a commissioner would be appointed as the administrative head of each division and people would not have to travel long distance unnecessarily.

Chief Secretary G-B Saifullah Chatta who was also present with the chief minister said that in future there would be no issue of salaries of government employees as issues pertaining to funds and overdraft have been resolved.

Federal Interior Minister Senator Rehman Malik has said that a Gilgit-based terrorist group has been involved in recent incidents of target-killings in the City. Maulvi Fazlullah, a leader of Tehreek-e-Taliban Swat has been aiding and abetting the outlaws for attack in the City to spread terrorism.

The Federal minister was talking to media here on Saturday. Rehman Malik ruled out the involvement of any sectarian group in the recent killings of Shias in the City, claiming confidently that it was a death squad of a terrorist wing and the LEAs were closed to bust the group. He pinpointed that a group of terrorists from Gilgit had also joined the death squads operating in different parts of the country.

Citing the statement of a woman who claimed to be mother of a terrorist, the minister pointed out that the woman told the LEAs that her son was hired by a terrorist group for subversive activity in the provincial metropolis. “My son is being paid Rs60,000 to 70,000 for each anti-state act,” he quoted her as saying and added that the intelligence agencies had reached their tail and would be busted very soon.

“In the wake of rising use of motorcycles by terrorist groups for their activities, month-long pillion-riding ban in the City has been suggested to the Sindh Home Department, the minister disclosed.

Regarding memo-gate issue, he said that Sharif brothers should stop digging wells for others as they could also fell prey to the phenomenon themselves. Rehman Malik opined that everyone was talking about memo-gate which was nothing more than a non-issue and but nobody talked about Mehran Bank scandal, which could expose big names of the country.  Replying to a question, Malik said that the Sindh Home Minister was independent to take action against the group. When his attention was drew towards shutter-down strike observed in Sindh, the minister said that all people who believed in democracy should come to table for dialogue because all issues could be resolved only through dialogue.

Experts highlight importance of regularization of labs:  There is urgent need for standardization and regularization of diagnostic laboratonal in the country, said participants of conference “Breaking Barriers in Healthcare,” on Saturday.

Medical professionals, from different hospitals, were discussing infectious diseases during first day of the three day moot jointly organized by Indus Hospital in collaboration with Infectious Diseases Society (IDS). They referred to mushroom growth of diagnostic laboratories, often void of any quality and criterion, at the cost of precious human lives. Participants of the moot strongly recommended continuing medical education cum training programs and refresher courses for technicians and other professionals associated with laboratories.

Need to regulate diagnostic services and accuracy of diagnostic tests was also strongly recommended by the participants of the moot. These were cited to be prerequisite for proper treatment of various diseases as emergence of wide range of viruses and infections make the medical experts largely dependent on lab based investigations. Emphasizing easy and cost effective availability of necessary gadgets and chemicals required at labs, they said this has to be without compromising the quality. Experts on the occasion extensively discussed, and will be discussing during next two days of the moot, issues that are peculiar to the country.

These included dengue, multi drug resistant TB, malaria, rapid diagnostic tests, real life infectious diseases etc, Prof Altaf Ahmed, coordinator of the moot said Indus Hospital has acquired tremendous experience in diagnosis and management.

Published in Nation news

“Gilgiti group” involved in Karachi killings: Rehman Malik

Federal Interior Minister, Rehman Malik, has coined a new term “Gilgiti Group”, to describe alleged terrorists who gunned down several people, including three lawyers, the other day.

The minister said that the so-called “Gilgiti Group Squad” has smuggled weapons to Karachi in oil tankers. He revealed that mother of one of the alleged terrorists had tipped the police about his son’s involvement in sectarian violence.

Rehman told the media that they will soon catch the group. He warned members of the group that they cannot hide from the claws, whether they travel in buses, cars or live in “Defence”, a posh locality in Karachi city.

The term “Gilgiti Group” has drawn criticism in the Gilgit – Baltistan region where people have accused the interior minister of damaging the tourism industry by using misleading terms.

Published in Pamirtimes

Published in badesumal

Two workers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, who hailed from Gilgit-Baltistan, were shot dead in a Gulshan-i-Iqbal locality, police said on Sunday.

They said the bodies of the two men were found late on Saturday night at around 12.45am in Gulshan-i-Iqbal’s Block 4 near a private hospital.Gulshan-i-Iqbal SHO Dost Mohammad told Dawn that initially it appeared that the victims were killed somewhere else and the bodies were dumped at the scene. However, the police found two spent bullet casings at the crime-scene, which suggested that they were killed at the same place where their bodies were found. The two men were shot in the head, he added.

A memory card found on one of the victims helped the police in establishing the identities of the victims, said the police, adding that they were identified as Sikandar, son of Hamza, and Naseer, son of Kaseer Ahmed, both in their late twenties.

The police said that Sikandar was the MQM’s sector-in-charge for Gilgit-Baltistan and had arrived here about a week back.

They said a paternal uncle of Sikandar lived in Soldier Bazar No 2 and the victims were living there.

The bodies were shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for a post-mortem examination.

News Story was published in Dawn

Source (Daily Times ) Incorporation of climate change studies in higher education by Karakoram International University (KIU) Gilgit is a laudable step and will be helpful in addressing the challenges of global warming, said Chief Meteorologist Ghulam Rasul. Talking to APP, Dr Rasool said the university has set a new precedent for others by introducing a new discipline of `Mountain Area Development’ for students of M.Phil. Ghulam Rasul, who has command over this subject delivered a series of lectures in the university on climate change and its impact on glacier melting in Hindukush, Karakoram and Himalayas. He sensitised the young practitioners of Forest Department and teachers about the development activities suffering due to climate change. Dr Rasul highlighted that the snowline is shifting upward due to increase in temperature and likewise there is a biodiversity shift on the mountains. Sharing his research findings on snowline shift, he informed about the interviews of mountain elders how their doors remained snow packed in winter in the past but now hardly any snow rather they receive rainfall even in winter. Dr Ghulam Rasul emphasized upon the involvement of local communities in development activities through awareness campaign, developing the sense of ownership and promoting the win-win partnerships. Appreciating the efforts of KIU administration for innovating the syllabi by introducing the subjects to address the new challenges of global warming and climate change posed to the mountainous areas of the north Ghulam Rasul said “this is the first initiative of its kind in the country taken by academia on climate change to connect it to future development projects.” app

Source (Pamirtimes) The Gilgit Police has displayed photographs of “terrorists” printed on Panaflex banners at five public places  in the city.

According to information, the banners were displayed at five locations on late Thursday on the order of district administration.

The action has been taken in view of the new wave of unrest in the capital city of Gilgit – Baltistan, in which at least two people, including a Jail warden, have been killed and two more have been injured, during the past 48 hours.

Today unknown people opened fire on a shopkeeper in the Bazar area. The shopkeeper sustained bullet injury in his leg. Traders blocked the road in protest and chanted slogans against the government and Gilgit administration.

The role of administration is criticized after almost every incident of terrorism in the city, but things have gone from bad to worst during the past decade. Murder and terrorism have become a routine activity in the city. Several incidents of violence have also taken place during the last year in Skardu, normally a peaceful city.

Source (brecorder) Three patients of dengue fever from Gilgit-Baltistan, have been referred to Lahore for treatment, health officials said.

“We have registered two patients and one suspect so far of dengue fever, of which, two were referred to Lahore for treatment on their own request while the tests of the suspected one are being carried out,” said Medical Superintendent of District Headquarter Hospital Dr. Wazir Muhammad.

He said that the patients did not belong to Gilgit but had come from Lahore to visit their relatives. One of them had already undergone treatment of this virus and was recovered but the problem resurfaced, he added.

He said the other patient was a personnal of Punjab Rangers who had returned after holidays but when he reached his unit the symptoms of dengue emerged. He was instantly shifted to the hospital but was later sent to Lahore for treatment.

The Medical Superintendent said he was informed that a person of Gizher district was suspected of dengue virus, however, his tests were being conducted.

Meanwhile, the Apex Court of Gilgit-Baltistan took a sou moto action and directed the senior health authorities to make appropriate measures to avoid any possible outbreak.

The district administrations of all seven districts have issued directives to spray the vulnerable points and adopt preventive measures.

Source (Express Tribune) The inhabitants of Gilgit-Baltistan’s (G-B) Ghizer District were gripped by fear after receiving news that half a dozen suspicious people entered the peaceful district from Chitral to carry out terrorist acts during Eid. The attacks never came, and the reports appear to have been exaggerated at the very least.

According to local media reports, at least six terrorists entered Ghizer from Chitral via the Shandur Pass. This instilled a sense of apprehension among locals as about 40 personnel of the Chitral force were killed by recent militant attacks at check posts on the Afghan border.

Ghizer District is one of the peaceful areas of Gilgit Division and has a population of 200,000, 95 per cent of whom are members of the Shia Ismaili community.

However, top district administration officials had ruled out any such report from the intelligence agencies. Ghizer Deputy Comissioner Shozaib Saeed informed The Express Tribune that there was no credible information from any intelligence agency. However, all necessary measures were taken to deal with any untoward incidence and all religious congregations were provided with foolproof security during Eid prayers.

The commissioner also said that investigations were being carried to verify the reports, and security at check posts connecting Ghizer District with Chitral was beefed up after receiving the news.

Deputy Superintendant of Police (DSP) Farman Ali, who is also acting SP (Superintendant of Police) of the District, stated that the police and intelligence agencies are prepared to cope with any terror act. He also endorsed that there is no intelligence report about any terrorists having entered into Ghizer from Chitral.

The DSP said that the district is short of police as it only has 300 police personnel, 150 of whom have been deployed in the valleys that connect Ghizer with Chitral.

However, the local population still had reservations about the measures taken by law enforcement agencies, claiming that hashish, weapons and other illegal goods easily reach the district due to security lapses at check posts.

Chitral is a sensitive district, as its border connects with Afghanistan’s most volatile provinces, Nuristan and especially Kunar, and infiltration of criminals from Afghanistan into Chitral is a routine matter, which also cannot be ruled out in Ghizer’s case.

Source (APP) Gilgit avenged Chitral in front of hundreds and  thousands cheering spectator in a thrill-packed final played at an altitude of almost 4000 meters above sea level, the highest and famous polo ground of the world, situated at Shandur Pass.Chief Minister Gilgit-Baltistan, Syed Medi Shah was the chief guest on  this occasion.Beside him, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sports Minister, Syed Aqil Shah, Khyber-Pakhtoonkhawa Population Minister Salim Khan,  DCO Chitral Rehmat Ullah Wazir, representative of the Commandant Chitral Scouts and President Chitral Polo Association Sikandar Ul Mulak with other dignitaries of the provincial and federal government and large number of game enthusiast, local and foreign tourists were also present.Last year Gilgit team did not turned up for the show but this time the team was in tremendous form, showing their superiority in all departments.

A three-day-long Shandur Polo Festival will be held from first week of july. This Polo Festival is organized at the highest polo ground of the world known as “Shandur”. It is expected that many local and foreign tourists will attend the festival. The festival will be full of Gilgit and Chitral cultural and regional activities. Besides polo matches, there will also take place the events of Tug of War, Paragliding and Musical Chairs.

Talking to APP the Official said that stern security measures have already been put in place in view to thwart any untoward incident. The government of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa has invited the newly-wed British Royal couple to the famous Shandur Polo tournament. The chief minister of the Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province, Haider Hoti has officially confirmed the invitation to Prince William and Princess Kate to watch final of Shandur Polo tournament in Chitral on July 9th. Shandur Polo Tournament is an annual festival held every July at the Shandur Pass in the northern areas of Pakistan where rival teams from Chitral and Gilgit play.

The tournament is held on Shandur Pass, the highest polo ground in the world at just under 4000 meters where the Hindukush, Pamir and Karakoram ranges meet. The Shandur pass is about 3738 meter above sea level lies midway between Chitral and Gilgit. The colorful festival also includes folk music and dancing and used to attract large number of foreigners in the past when militancy comparatively low in Pakistan. History of Shandur festival The polo tournament, played on Shandur Top, known as “playing on rooftop of the world”, had been a regular feature since centuries in the area.

The area has hosted this game since the past 800 years and history has it that in 1920s, King of the area has started the famous tournament for promotion of integration between different areas under his realm. He ordered the ruler of Moskuj (the Hindukush highland between Chitral and Gilgit), hold the polo tournament between the best players for the purpose. In the past the local Mehtars , Mirs and Rajas (administrators, or rulers of states) were patrons of polo.