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| Atrocities on Shias in Gilgit-Baltistan fail to move Kashmiri leaders | | Sectarian Approach -- I | | Rustam
Jammu, Apr 20: The already rather volatile Gilgit-Baltistan region in the Pakistan-occupied-Jammu and Kashmir (POJK) has been witnessing sectarian clashes between the Shiite and Sunni Muslims for quite sometime now. According to reports from across the border, during the last 20 days alone, about 400 innocent Shiite Muslims have been targeted and murdered in cold blood. The Shiite Muslims are in majority in the Gilgit-Baltistan region and they have been denied even normal civil and political rights by the Government of Pakistan. They have been struggling since decades for a dispensation that empowers them to exercise all those rights which are available to people in democratic countries. In fact, they have not only been groaning under the yoke of cruel Pakistani rule since 1948 and seeking freedom from it but they have also been protesting against the concerted moves of the Sunni-dominated Pakistani establishment and the Army to convert Gilgit-Baltistan into Sunni-majority region.
This region is of great strategic importance to Pakistan. It is surrounded by three countries - India, China and Afghanistan. The Pakistani Government has reportedly "imposed pro-Sunni policies and practices" in this Shia-dominated region and forced the Shiite Muslims to study the Sunni syllabus". In January 2005, the region had witnessed "violent clashes" following the decision of the Pakistani Government to "force Shias to study Sunni syllabus".
Commenting on the human rights situation and prevailing State of affairs in Gilgit-Baltistan, one POJK-based commentator only the other day wrote like this: "Shias have been a soft target for unprovoked bloodshed. In 1988, hundreds of Shias were killed in Gilgit by thousands of armed Sunni invaders from Khyber Pakthunkhwa. It is widely believed that the killers had support of General Zia's regime. Even after the February 28, 2012 Khostan massacre in which 18 Shia passengers were killed on the Karakoram Highway (KKH), agitators of banned sectarian organizations continue to propagate hate messages and slogans like 'Sunni Raj in a Sunni State' and 'Shia Kafir'. In a series of incidents, dozens of people, mostly Shias, have been killed or wounded and their properties are burnt. There are 'no-go-areas' for both communities (Shia and Sunni). You cannot go to the Sunni area, if you are a Shia and you cannot go to the Shia area, if you are a Sunni. Similar sectarian segregations are common in other civic amenities like markets, hospitals, educational institutes and so on. Above all, it is the only country (Pakistan), where prisoners are locked on the sectarian affiliations. The GB (Gilgit-Baltistan) is the poorest and highly marginalized region of Pakistan where the average household income is $0.50 per capita per day. As 85 per cent of the population does not have access to safe drinking water, 60 per cent of inhabitants rely on water from open channels where water contamination is 500 times higher than the WHO (World Health Organization) standards. As a consequence, poor water and sanitation takes 50 per cent of all deaths of children between 1 and 5 years of age. Unemployment has increased alarmingly. In the GB 70 per cent of the population is under 25 years of age and 70 per cent suffer from under/unemployment. Public sector job recruitment process is compromised on sectarian and party affiliation basis and few available positions are mostly occupied by influential elite, consequently, poor and marginalized sections suffer from alienation and gross discrimination. The incidents of brutal murder of blameless and innocent people in the GB have triggered sentiments of alienation among public vis-a-vis their socio-economic links with Islamabad. The Kohastan massacre has resulted into obvious unwillingness to travel on the KKH that has underscored significance of reopening traditional routes of the region. In a string of demonstrations people of the region have urged India and Pakistan to re-open Astore-Srinagar, Chorbat-Nubra, Sham-Skardo, Drass-Gultari and Kharmang-Kargil routes to reunite them (read Shias) them with Kargil and other areas of Indian administered (Jammu and) Kashmir. The abolition of the SSR (State Subject Rules) in the GB has caused worse demographic change from local ethnic, linguistic, religious and cultural perspectives. Mounting Chinese geo-strategic influence in Gilgit-Baltistan is another cause of instability not only for neighbouring India but for people of the territory as well." (To be continued) |
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