Window to Gilgit-Baltistan

By   Syed Shamsuddin   CUSTOMARY IT HAS been eversince 1947, to commemorate 1st November each year with fitting jubilation and pomp, across Gilgit-Baltistan as the epoch-making triumphal day on which the regional people unshackled themselves and threw off the yoke of servitude fastened to their necks by an unimaginative power id est the Dogras who had forcibly occupied the territory about a century back in connivance with and at the instance of the British India. This initiative therefore, is aimed at paying glowing tributes to, and eulogize the gigantic contribution and achievement of the iconic personages – the victors (ghazis), martyrs (shaheeds) and those who got injured terribly with some losing thier limbs and thus heroically became the change-makers in the regional history at such a very vital point in time and such critical moment and as such emerged as the symbol and source of hope, courage, determination and inspiration to put it succinctly. The momentous struggle ma...

By   Syed Shamsuddin RARELY DO A few, very few, in any society or a people or a nation, get singled out to be really counted upon by the dint of the sterling characteristics they possess and the distinguishing qualities they are endowed abundantly with to lead. These, which are prerequisite for a potential leader precisely include great motivation, spirit, strength, righteousness of the cause and above all, integrity all together get reckoned with as the real force-multiplier so direly needed for the guidance of a people on to the path of meaningful progress in an essentially democratic manner. Evidently, the removal of such a person from our midst is, but bound to results into an irreparable loss to put it succinctly. This is all the more true in the case of Gilgit-Baltistan – a peripheral region which lagged far behind the rest all along with the past, in terms of a genuine politico-economic activity so direly needed to overcome the gigantic problems the area faced. At such a jun...

Slide Show by Scribd AN ANONYMOUS REAPPRAISAL OF THE REVOLUTION AT GILGIT (1ST NOVEMBER 1947) THROUGH REVIEW OF MAJOR WILLIAM ALEXANDER BROWN’S BOOK “THE GILGIT REBELLION- 1947”  HAVING FOUND A copy of the subject anonymous 'Reappraisal of the Gilgit Revolution, 1947' in the course of a casual rummaging through this scribe’s tidbits file, it is taken verbatim for the information of the readers for a dispassionate ‘evaluation’ in order to help collate facts, test the veracity of various versions contained therein aimed at positing a debate pegged in correct historical perspective. It precisely begins with: ‘William Alexander Brown was born on December 22, 1922, who was enlisted in the army and somewhere in 1942, was short-course-commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant from Officer Cadet Training Unit Bangalore, India. He was immediately transferred to the Frontier Corps of Scouts and Militias where he served in South Waziristan Scouts and became proficient in Pushto.  In earl...