A letter of Brig (Rtd.) Hisamullah Beg in his own hand writing.

Source (Shabbir Mir- Tribune)The recent violence in Hunza following the killing of two men by police has cost the Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) government Rs200 million.

“The estimate losses stands around Rs200 million,” official sources in Hunza said, while officials in the district administration declined to comment on the matter.

The Aliabad Police Station was torched by a mob; the damage is estimated to be Rs6.5 million. Other buildings damaged in the riots are Deputy Commissioner House (Rs7 million) Rest House (Rs1.3 million), DC Office (Rs0.6 million) and a police check post (Rs1.3 million).

“The building and roads department had conducted the assessment and submitted to it to the Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) government for the release of the money,” he said.

A clash between the police and protestors demanding compensation for losses inflicted by the Attabad Lake disaster in 2010 resulted in the death of a man and his son in Hunza on Thursday. In the ensuing riots, the charged mob set several government buildings on fire.

Hunza-Nagar Assistant Commissioner Momin Jan said that section 144 — which bans the assembly of more than four men — has been imposed in the town to keep the situation under control.

“[The restriction] has been imposed for 60 days to keep things under control,” he said, adding that the government is in contact with local elders to discuss a solution to issues concerning law and order in the region once known for its serenity.

Meanwhile, the government in Hunza has prepared a list of people who were involved in ransacking and torching government property in the riots.  “The local administration is negotiating with local elders for the arrest of these people,” said sources privy to the development. They said that a proposal of setting up of at least four police check posts in the restive parts of Hunza Valley is under consideration.

Source (Dardistan Times) A retired Pakistani military man and his son have been ruthlessly killed by police in Aliabad Valley of Gilgit-Baltistan. The shooting spree was reportedly carried out at the behest of the local Chief Minister who was scheduled to visit the region and he wanted to see the area free of hue and cry while he was visiting the region.

Video: Father and Son killed. Police Shooting Spree spurs widespread riots in Hunza Aliabad
Sources told that the police was given ‘10 minutes’ to scare the protesters away from the minister’s convoy and the police personnel, on state’s payroll ruthlessly killed Sher Ullah Baig, a retired Pakistan Military service man.  His wounded son— shot by police— could not win his survival battle. The young protester also succumbed to injuries. The protests were being carried out by the Internally Displaced People (IDPs) of Attaabad, a village sumbmereged by water dam last year. The government’s failure to rehabilitate the affactees of the natural disaster spurred a youth uprising with demands for  help. The government machinery, then, got active to silence the outraged youth. Time and again, the  youth remained harrassed by local police and some were sent to jails in sedition charges.

The latest killing of the local residents by state authorities has dampened the peace record of Hunza-Gojal, prompting immediate riots in the mountains of Karakorum. The small settlements of Hunza-Gojal now portray scenes of Tahrir Square where thousands of people are chanting slogans against the government, and officials responsible for the brutality.

Protesters in Aliabad attacked the local police station with stones and bricks forcing police personal to escape the station half-dressed. They set three government vehicles ablaze, destroyed furniture and crashed the windows.  The agitators also vandalized the office of local Deputy Commissioner (DC). The outraged people captured many police men and beat them up.

Video: Funeral of Sher Ullah Baig and his son Sher Afzal
Here in Gilgit widespread protests around the city have started. People are setting barricades and vandalizing property and are chanting “Go CM, GO”.  Speakers at the protests really demanded to remove the Islamabad-picked Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan, immediately. They were calling Mehdi Shah ‘brutal, jinxed and illiterate’. Others were equating Mehdi Shah with ‘Narendra Modi’ ( who allegedly ordered to burn the Muslims of Gujrat).

The Chief Minister, who was scheduled to visit Hunza, cut short his visit and fled back to Gilgit. He is being alleged to order to open fire. Mirza Hussain of Pakistan Muslim League said, “ He is the guy to order, otherwise, how dared a police sepoy shoot at some one. This Chief Minister must go now. He has proven to be a jinxed to the region.”

A member of Gilgit-Baltistan Lagislative Assembly (GBLA), Nawaz Khan Naji has demanded to lodge an FIR against the Chief Minister. Janbaz Khan, another GBLA member called the incident a cold-blooded murder.  He said that the government gave only a lip-service to rehabilitate the people of Attabad for the last 12 months resulting in a public outrage.

In an attempt to create an ‘All is well’ atmosphere during his royal visit to Hunza, Mehdi Shah has dragged the region to a chaotic threshold. Voices are being raised to bring peace back to Karakoram, and at the same time, government officials and politicians in Gilgit-Baltistan are begged to have some mercy on the poor people.

Police opens fire in Hunza, 2 killed, 4 people injured

Hunza still tense on Thursday’s police killings

Source (The News) Tension and a reign of terror prevail here on the second day, following Thursday’s killings of two men in police firing on the demonstrating Attabad affectees on the arrival of the Hunza chief minister.

Life in entire Hunza remains stand still, as all the government and private offices including schools and educational institutions remained closed, while a large number of people have thronged Tehsil Aliabad of Hunza. The demonstrators have given 24 hours ultimatum for taking action against those responsible for yesterday’s police firing on the peaceful protesters and killing the father and the son. Locals said that Attaabad’s artificial lake affectees were peacefully protesting during Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister’s visit, but the police used excessive force against the protesters and the police baton-charged and opened fire on the protesters. The demonstrators had staged sit-in with the bodies of the father and the son on Shahrah-e-Karakoram.

Hunza Police Firing Video

On the other hand, the police and the law enforcing agencies after yesterday’s clash with demonstrators have disappeared from the roads, while the demonstrators in groups at different places kept marching in rage raising slogans against the government.

Gilgit Baltistan Chief Minister, Syed Mehdi Shah yesterday had left for Hunza on Nagar area’s Sas valley tour, when the police tried to clear off the Attabad affectees demonstrating on the way that led to the clash, resulting in the death of two persons and wounding four, while four policemen including the DSP were also injured. Later, the enraged crowd had torched the Aliabad deputy commissioner’s office, rest house, police station along with a mobile and four government vehicles.

Funeral of the  Sher Ullah Baig and his son Sher Afzal