Window to Gilgit-Baltistan

By  Syed Shamsuddin   HAVING COME ACROSS a very interesting, highly inspiring and admirable summation from Ghulamuddin,  encompassing the subject matter, which appeared on 21 st   February, i.e on the occasion of ‘International Day for Protection of Mother Languages, this scribe couldn’t help dilate upon and re-emphasize the centrality of the issue insofar as Gilgit-Baltistan is concerned. It is to be seen that there are six languages and dialects spoken across Gilgit-Baltistan which are all, on the wane and as such, are threatened of going extinct. Prima facie, getting to the top of them is ‘Domaki’ which. indeed, gets singled out as the most threatened for its being on the verge of fading out. As getting unfolded from the United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 7097 languages are spoken around the globe out of which, almost half are feared to go wholly extinct towards the close of the present century. The chief reason for...

By  Syed Shamsuddin   By Syed Shamsuddin A flurry of activity in terms of determination of the constitutional status of Gilgit-Baltistan, obviously in consonance with the region’s correct historical perspective, has this time around gathered momentum with the ‘All Parliamentary Parties’ demonstrably being on the same page, as  reported by a leading regional Urdu daily the other day. It is noteworthy that there has been a persistent anxiety among the region’s people over the way Gilgit-Baltistan has been ruled from day one; they are constantly being kept deprived of constitutional dispensation for the last seventy two years by subjecting the people to an amorphous system of governance which has by now morphed into a unconstitutional province sui generis. Mired in a strange situation, and caught in a maelstrom, the process underway has, over time, added only to disillusionment and discontentment ad nausea. Much has so far been written on the need for earliest resol...

SURELY, the monumental struggle waged against an array of hostile forces to unshackle and free the people of Gilgit-Baltistan at a very critical moment, in the regional history marks a watershed being quintessentially demonstrative of the indomitable will, tenacity of purpose, exemplary courage, conviction and the firm hope. Great events like this do not at all, take place haphazardly but are in fact, the consequence of a people’s determination seeking an opportune moment to clear their soil of the alien rule. It is worth mentioning that he Sikhs had, first embarked on an adventurism to occupy Gilgit-Baltistan in 1939 while the Dogras carried it out virulently with sporadic incursions during the second half of the 19 th  century. This was perhaps, with the blessings of the British which at long last, resulted into their complete sway over the entire region which had never before in its history – from times immemorial to the medieval ever witnessed such a cataclysmic change le...

By  Syed Shamsuddin Admittedly, man’s expedient pursuits have overtime, ravaged the whole ecosystem endowed by nature. And the Gilgit-Baltistan scenario is just a microcosm of the environmental ravages being wrought by such pursuits while the global warming impact is yet another spectre dangling overhead. This is in addition to thousands of vehicles with improper tuning, plied in the region that emit carbon monoxide polluting the environment and meandering its way up the glaciers with pernicious effects catalyzing snow/glacier melting processes. These are all the factors which together, tend to wreak havoc on the environment. There can be no denying the fact that no environmental campaign whatsoever, may succeed sans encouraging the local people and getting them well on the board, for the effective implementation of a program. There is therefore the need to be responsive to the legitimate needs of the respective communities so that they could be weaned towards and induced ...

By  Syed Shamsuddin   Read part - 2 BEFORE CONCLUDING the instant write-up, it pertinent to advert to very interesting piece appearing recently in a regional Urdu daily (Daily Salam dated 30.09.2019) whereby the learned writer Nabi Wani, depicted the traffic scenarios obtaining in Gilgit-Baltistan. He aptly portrayed the situation rather in a succinct manner which may well be evocative of the interest of the readers as well as in bringing it home to those at the helm of affairs. Tersely putting it, he says it is not the very first road crash on the Babusar road and the KKH but that several such incidents have taken place so far. It seems to him that the transport companies have been issued licenses which become open-ended in the sense that with the exception of a very few, all of them own obsolete, worn out and for that matter, technically or mechanically unfit vehicles not worthy of being made on the road. Moreover, the drivers employed by them demonstrably are not tha...

By  Syed Shamsuddin Read part - 1 As against this, a precise summation of the scenario across Pakistan is termed as horrific. In this connection, it is pertinent to refer to a seminar on road safety measures at Karachi University (KU) early this year, to take stock of the situation. The dean of civil and petroleum engineering faculty at NED University was referred to as saying there were three major factors behind  road accidents. He said that 67% of the accidents become outrightly attributable to human errors, 28% to poor infrastructure and deteriorating condition of roads and 5% to unfit vehicles. It was concluded that there was a dire need to improve road infrastructure emphasizing that if one considers all relevant components while constructing roads, the number of accidents would reduce. Hailing the research being conducted at the varsity, the participants of the seminar underscored its continuity in order to create awareness and to provide relief to peo...

By  Syed Shamsuddin HORRIFICALLY IMPACTFUL it is, the heart-rending Gitidas tragedy occurring near Babusar Pass,Chilas, gruesomely filled the horizon here  with tremendous shock and gloom and as such caused nagging pain for the entire society  to such an extent that beggars description. The enormity of the this road crash becomes well discernible from the fact that the death toll is put at 24, including children and ten soldiers ,died on the spot while many others on board the ill-fated coach critically injured. Given its intensity, the gory crash came like a tremor rattling the entire area to put it succinctly. Reports say there were 37 passengers were on board the coach at the time the blood-curdling happening. It is said that the coach collided head-on, with the cliff skirting the road. As soon as the news of the hair-tingling incident spread, rescue teams rushed to the spot. The injured and the dead were immediately shifted to the nearest hospital where me...