Gilgit (320)
Monday, 26 December 2011 10:32
Locals as judges Plea in SC tantamount to treason
Written by Bang e Sahar
Locals as judges Plea in SC tantamount to treason
By Our Correspondent
GILGIT: By challenging in the Supreme Court of Pakistan the appointment of any local resident as the chief judge of Gilgit-Baltistan, the president of the Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court Bar Association, Malik Haq Nawaz has committed treason with the people of the region.
These views were expressed by Amber Hussain Advocate, the vice-president of Pakistan People's Party Gilgit-Baltistan women wing and a former member of the District Council Gilgit.
In a statement issued to the media, Ambar Hussain said the people of Gilgit-Baltistan gave land, housing and respect to a person like Haq Nawaz but in return he declared the people of the region as sectarian minded and approached the Supreme Court of Pakistan with a writ petition against the locals' rights to become the chief judge of the Supreme Appellate Court of the region.
"If today the masses of the region remained silent and did not take any step for their rights, tomorrow like Haq Nawaz someone else would stand up and challenge the locals' rights to become even the chief minister, governor or judges of the court and demand their import from Pakistan," she added.
She said Haq Nawaz, who had come to the region from Chakwal, wanted someone from the federation to come to Gilgit as the chief judge of the region. She said there was no issue of sectarianism in the region and the locals have been living in peace and harmony for centuries. It is another matter that people like Haq Nawaz have been pitching the locals against each other in order to achieve their own vested interests.
She said the appointment of judges from one province in the courts of other province was a violation of human rights. The Pakistan people's Party (PPP) has come to power to ensure people's rights not to snatch them. Our mission is to empower the masses at their doorsteps, she added.
The PPP leader also expressed the hope that the chief justice of Pakistan, who is considered a symbol of justice for the people of the country, will throw away the petition of Haq Nawaz in the second hearing and would not disappoint the masses of the region.
The PPP leader said the judicial system in Gilgit-Baltistan was not less competent even compared to those in developed countries, because the judges and the lawyers in the region are highly competent and well conversant with the law of the land.
She demanded that Haq Nawaz should not only withdraw his petition from the Supreme Court but should also tender an unconditional apology to the two million people of Gilgit-Baltistan.
She called upon the president and prime minister of Pakistan to make sure that the judicial policy is implemented in Gilgit-Baltistan in letter and spirit in accordance with the resolution of the area's legislative assembly. The PPP leader also demanded of the chief minister of the region to oppose appointment of anyone in the local judiciary. Ms Hussain also said when there is no precedent of appointing the residents of one province as judges in another province in Pakistan, sending of retired and aged judges and lawyers of Pakistan as judges to Gilgit-Baltistan was a clear violation of human rights and an injustice with the local people.
The PPP leader also demanded that the three-year contract system should be abolished in the Supreme Appellate Court of Gilgit-Baltistan and the retirement age for the judges should be fixed at 65 years. She also said that local high court judges should be promoted to the supreme appellate court.
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System’s uncertainty worries politicians
By Our Correspondent
GILGIT: These days, political leaders in Gilgit-Baltistan, whether they belong to the treasury benches or the opposition, feel a pall of gloom hovering over the political horizon as they see the current system packing again in the wake of the murky situation in Pakistan.
They think, and very rightly so, that the day the PPP-led government is sent home, the system under which Gilgit-Baltistan was claimed to have given a province-like status will die its own death.
All the politicians know it very well too that the political system given to the region has neither any status under the national and international laws nor the region has any separate geographical recognition. Gilgit-Baltistan is a vital part of the whole region of Kashmir whose status is yet to be decided under the United Nations resolutions. Today the land of Kashmir remains dissected in pieces each occupied and grabbed by countries surrounding it. Aksai Chin is under the control of China, parts are under the occupation of India and Pakistan and there is Gilgit-Baltistan. Some pockets of the region have also been given under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.
It is one of the reasons, opportunist politicians have of late been demanding that the political set-up should be given protection under the constitution of Pakistan and this topic was also highlighted in a seminar organized by the Karakoram International University. Those who spoke on the occasion included legislative assembly speaker Wazir Baig, law minister Wazir Shakil, member GLA Amjad Hussain, Hafiz Hafizur Rehman of the PML-N, and vice chancellor of the university Dr Najma Najam.
The speakers were of the view that the self-governance and autonomy order 2009 was not a divine document that cannot be amended; rather there were rooms to change and improve it based on the needs of the region. Sensing a danger to the system, they said the federal government should provide constitutional cover to the system and also give representation to the people of Gilgit-Baltistan in the Senate and National Assembly of Pakistan
It is of utmost importance that the so-called political leaders of Gilgit-Baltistan should first understand the political, geographical, constitutional and legal history of the region. It is a fact that most of these leaders have no knowledge of the issue or their knowledge is very shadowy. Secondly, the UN does not recognize your region as a separate entity. Besides, your region is part of the whole Kashmir which is on the agenda of the world body as a dispute needing a resolution.
It is not possible for Pakistan to change the geography or political status of the region after accepting the UN resolutions which promised a plebiscite for ascertaining the wishes of the people of the region regarding the future status of the region.
To say that Pakistan should provide constitutional cover to the current system is to sabotage the efforts made by the people of the region to attain the status promised to them by the international community.
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Foreign firm sacks employees
By Our Correspondent
GILGIT: The foreign firm called Mohsin Industries which appeared in the horizon in Gilgit-Baltistan in the middle of 2001 appears to disappear from the scene with the end of the year leaving behind dozens of people unemployed, it ahs been learnt.
Sources said that the firm was preparing the list of its employees who will be sent packing soon. The company which came to the region with the claims of providing employment to the educated youth and exploit the region's mineral resources for the benefit of the locals not only hoodwinked the residents of the area but also deprived hundreds of educated youth of their chances to get jobs in other departments by wooing them through its cosmetic claims.
It may also be noted that newspaper owners in the region have also not been paid millions of rupees dues by the company for the advertisements it placed with them during the year and before.
Since coming to the region, people in the region had been demanding of the government to cancel the license of the company saying it had been issued the permit at the cost of the locals by the higher authorities.
China keen to invest in Gilgit-Baltistan
By Our Correspondent
ISLAMABAD: A delegation from China led by the deputy governor of Sinkiang province called on Gilgit-Baltistan Governor Pir Karam Ali Shah during their visit to Islamabad.
The governor invited the Chinese investors to invest in the hydroelectric power, mineral exploration and other sectors of the region which he added had great potential to grow.
He also offered that China and Gilgit-Baltistan should establish a joint economic zone in Gilgit-Baltistan so that the peoples of China and GB could benefit from it.
The head of the Chinese delegation took special interest in investing in Gilgit-Baltistan and said that he would be recommending his countrymen to invest in the region. He said Gilgit-Baltistan was one of the scenic and peaceful areas of the world and China was already working on various development projects in the region.
The Gilgit-Baltistan governor on the occasion also said that friendship between China and Pakistan was an example for other countries of the world. He said that Sinkiang and Gilgit-Baltistan were neghbouring provinces of China and Pakistan and there were lots of opportunities to promote trade relations between the two areas.
Chief engineer Ghulam Mehdi on the occasion briefed the Chinese delegation about the prospects of investment in the hydroelectric projects in the region. He said there was a potential of generating over 50,000 megawatts of electricity in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Secretary tourism Imran Sikendar Baloch briefed the delegation on tourism and mineral exploration in the area. The delegation took keen interest in investing in the region and also invited the Governor of GB and the cabinet of the region to visit China.
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Emergency bill approved
By Our Correspondent
GILGIT: Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly unanimously approved the Emergency Act 2011.
Briefing the members, minister for law Wazir Shakil said that the region had no mechanism to deal with emergencies like floods and earthquake. As a result, losses in terms of both human lives and properties remained very high, he added.
He said rescue system was going well in all over the country and there was an urgent need to set up similar services in Gilgit-Baltistan too, adding the passage of the bill would help the government in establishing such emergency bodies to minimize losses during natural calamities. He said that as a pilot project, rescue services have been set up in Gilgit and Skardu cities. In order to spread the rescue services in the region, the government of Punjab ahs also promised to provide training to the rescue personnel in the region, he added.
He said that the rescue personnel would be appointed in a very transparent manner as the government does not want any risk to adopt any dubious way in selecting the personnel for the vital department.
He said the emergency services would also have a council which would be headed by the chief minister.
Teacher shot dead
By Our Coresspondent
GILGIT: A teacher of a local school was killed by his opponents in Jutial area near the city. According to police, Jahangir Khan was on his way to appear in test for the post of assistant in the GB secretariat when his enemies opened firing on him. As a result, Mr Khan died on the spot. The police, who arrived at the scene after half an hour of the incident, took the body to the hospital for postmortem. Later, they registered a murder case against one Abdul Sattar and started investigation.
No dearth of talent
By Our Coresspondent
CHITRAL: Provincial Minister of Population Welfare Salim Khan has said there is no dearth of talent in Chitral and the need of the hour is to accurately channelise the potential of the youth which otherwise goes waste.
Addressing on the occasion of prize distribution ceremony on the concluding day of science fair at Aga Khan Higher Secondary School for Boys, Seen Lusht here the other day, he extolled the youth of Chitral for proving their mettle in all walks of life.
It may be noted that despite rising rate of literacy, the government has failed to provide employmnet to the youth creating a sense of deprivation among the people.
Sports board approved
By Our Coresspondent
GILGIT: The Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly unanimously approved the establishment of the Gilgit-Baltistan Sports Board in line with the recommendations of a committee headed by the law minister. It also thanked the Azad Jammu and Kashmir government for increasing the number of seat in its professional colleges for Gilgit-Baltistan people.
Speaker Wazir Baig chaired the session during which minister for local government said the regional chief minister had sanctioned the Rs10 million administrative expenditure for municipal committees each and that the annual development plan valuing Rs220 million for the said committees had already been approved.
He said assistant commissioners of the respective municipal committees were appointed as administrator, while local government elections in the mountainous region would be held in October or November next year. The minister said the services of the tourism department`s contractual employees were regularised and a serious consideration would be given to such cases in other departments, too. He urged lawmakers to inform the planning and development department about development schemes in their respective constituencies for approval.
Residents decry lack of facilities
By Our Coresspondent
GILGIT: The people of Diamer district have criticised the administration of Gilgit-Baltistan for not providing proper health facilities, compelling them to travel to other parts of the region and the country for seeking treatment.
The district, which is inhibited by people mostly living below the poverty line, has been promised a modern hospital by the successive governments but words remain to be translated into deeds.
Chilas, which is the district headquarter city, is visited by patients from far-flung valleys of Darel, Tangir, Hudur, Thore, Khanbary, Khinar, Gohar Abad and many other valleys, but most patients are referred to either Gilgit or down country due to lack of health facilities in the city. "The newly constructed 100-bed hospital in Chilas gives foul smell all the time making it difficult for patients and their attendants to stay in the building," complains Jamroze Khan, an attendant of a patient. He says the hygiene condition at the hospital is poor and the hospital administration is not paying proper heed to the situation. The hospital's X-ray machine always remains out of order and whenever it works the cost of films and other expenditures is borne by the poor patients.
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HR body to have two members from GB
ISLAMABAD: A hard-won consensus carried through the National Assembly a landmark government bill to create a state-funded National Commission for Human Rights, in a rare accommodation to the opposition that was also reflected in the two sides agreeing to ponder together how to overcome gas shortages in Pakistan.
The government accepted all 14 amendments proposed by the opposition PML-N to ensure a unanimous passage of the 30-clause bill, whose final shape after an apparently long bargaining gives parliament and the opposition an affective say in appointing what is designed to be an independent 11-member commission that would meet some constitutional and international obligations as well as a commitment of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's PPP-led coalition.
The nomination of the commission chairperson, who must have been or be qualified to be a judge of the Supreme Court, and nine members will have to go through a hard process - somewhat similar to one for the appointment of the Election Commission - of inviting suggestions through a public notice, consultation between the prime minister and the opposition leader, confirmation by a parliamentary committee before the formal appointment by the president, while a secretary, as the eleventh member, will be appointed by the commission itself. Two of the members would be coming from Gilgit-Baltistan.
The original bill, as approved by an 18-member house standing committee on human rights, had provided for an easier, but somewhat ambiguous, procedure of the federal government consulting "relevant stakeholders in a fair and transparent manner" before a mandatory prime ministerial advice to the president to make appointments.
It empowers the president to remove the chairman or a member of the commission from office on grounds of misconduct or physical incapability in the manner provided in article 209 of the constitution for the removal of a judge of the Supreme Court or a high court following inquiries by a supreme judicial council.
The bill now needs Senate approval to become law, whose adoption by the lower house was marked by both sides hailing the consensus in the latest of some acts of comparative peace between the two sides in three days of this week following a prolonged bitterness over issues ranging from energy crisis to PML-N threats to launch a campaign to topple the government and a controversy over an anti-army memorandum sent to a former US military chief in May and now subject of parallel investigations by a parliamentary committee and the Supreme Court.
And as they started the week on Monday with renewed commitments to protect the democracy from "undemocratic" forces and then the government acted the next day to ease gas shortages in Islamabad and Rawalpindi after opposition-aided street protests,- the rivals followed up their deal on the bill by agreeing to consider the causes of the overall shortages of natural gas in a house standing committee to find a solution after Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Asim Hussain warned: "If we don't act together things will go out of hand."
The National Commission for Human Rights Bill, which was introduced in the house last year and had been put off in the last session last month and for some days of this session for want of consensus, says the commission and every member of its staff "shall function without political or other bias to interference and, unless it expressly otherwise provides", be independent and separate from any government or administration, though its finances would mainly come from annual federal budget allocations each year.
A statement of objects and reasons accompanying the bill cited some provisions of the Constitution, the government's agenda for the protection of human rights of Pakistan's citizens and international obligations as well resolutions of the UN General Assembly and the former UN Commission on Human Rights for the establishment of independent national human rights institutions, the likes of which, it said, were now functioning in more than 54 countries.
Protest held against arrests
By Our Coresspondent
KARACHI: Hundreds of people, mostly youth, belonging to the Ghizer district, especially Ishkoman valley, held a protest demonstration here to express solidarity with around 32 people who presented themselves for arrest in the Ishkoman valley after being charged with rioting and damaging government property.
The protesters were carrying banners and chanting slogans demanding early release of those held from the valley and withdrawal of bogus cases against them. The protest demonstration was held outside the Karachi Press Club.
The speakers blamed the district administration of Ghizar for mishandling the situation and failing to provide electricity to the people who are living in a very cold environment.
They blamed the police of mistreating the prisoners by keeping them in lock-ups with heating in sub-zero temperature. Later, the protesters dispersed peacefully.
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Senate body discusses GB's status
By Our Correspondent
ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan met at the Parliament House under the Chairmanship of Senate Salim Saifullah Khan.
The committee discussed in detail the working and performance of the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan besides the constitutional status of Gilgit-Baltistan.
Senator Salim Saifullah Khan and other members of the Committee appreciated the ministry's efforts for according identity to the people of Gilgit-Balitistan and giving them rights.
The committee decided to visit Gilgit-Baltistan soon and interact with political leadership to apprize itself of the problems being faced by the local population.
Members also appreciated the development projects being implemented and expressed the hope that development initiatives would improve the life style of the people of GB and change socio-economic conditions.
Chairman of the committee lauded Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo for taking keen interest in the affairs of the Ministry and bringing improvements in the performance.
He said the ministry can be a role model for other ministries. Earlier, Mian Manzoor Wattoo, Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and GB, informed the committee about the steps taken by the present government and said government is taking seriously interested in the empowerment of the people G-B and is focusing on various development projects in the area.
The committee assured its all out support to the ministry in overcoming challenges Ministry in overcoming challenges in the way of its effective performance. The meeting was attended among others by Senators Jahanigr Badar and Ms. Sughra Imam besides Secretary of the Ministry and other senior officials were also present.
Man killed over enmity
By Our Coresspondent
GILGIT: An elderly man was killed allegedly by his rival near the Supreme Appellate Court of Gilgit-Baltistan in Gilgit.
Police said Abdul Manan had migrated to a Gilgit village from the remote valley of Tangir over threats from rivals more than 20 years ago. The killer later handed himself and the gun over to police at the city police station.
Politicians playing to gallery
By Our Correspondent
GILGIT: Instead of concentrating on resolving the problems of his own constituency, which is mired in unemployment, lack of basic necessities of life and other problems, deputy speaker of Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly Jamil Ahmed has jumped into the national political bandwagon just to get cheap publicity and keep himself in the headlines.
The latest salvo from his side came the other day when he aimed his guns at Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif, accused him of trying to grab power through the backdoors. Mr Jamil also declared Mr Sharif the product of dictatorship adding he was a failed politician and working to destabilize the democratic institutions in the country. In his tirade, however, Mr Jamil forgot his own worth that he is just the product of an executive order without having any political standing in his own area. He also forgot the fact that his own party the PPP is also the product of a military dictator. On the one hand, Mr Jasmil has jumped into the national political fray as though he was going to take part in a polo match and on the other the irregularities in the appointment of teachers echoed in the meeting of the legislative assembly and except the ministers all the members were of the view that a committee should be formed to probe into the issue and clear the allegations.
Leader of the opposition Haji Janbaz said that technical corruption was committed in the appointments which was shameful and should be probed. Not only in the appointment of teachers but in other department too corruption and irregularities have become a routine and the masses have lost confidence in the government and do not trust it for any fail deal. Despite such a situation, the ministers and chief ministers remain oblivious to the local problems and regularly try their political luck by speaking about the murky situation in Pakistan and divert the people's attention from their utter failures to deliver.
None of these so-called political leaders understands the fact that there is no need to make enemies in other countries when our own house is not in order. This is so when Gilgit-Baltistan has no political system and the current one can be wrapped up within a jiffy under a presidential order. Nawaz Sharif is the leader of a party which is in power in Pakistan's biggest province where there are lots of opportunities for employment and education. Had our political leaders used wisdom and political sagacity, they could have entered into negotiations with the PML-N leaders in Punjab and created lots of seats in educational institutions for the youth of the region.
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‘Murder of justice’
By Our Coresspondent
GILGIT: Adviser to the prime Minister Wazir Ibadat Advocate and chairman of the standing committee on Gilgit-Baltistan Amjad Hussain Advocate have said appointment of retired judges of the Supreme Court and high courts of Pakistan in Gilgit-Baltistan's judiciary was the murder of justice and a joke with the rights of the people of the region. Talking to the media, they said quota should be fixed in the Supreme Court and high courts of Pakistan for judges from Gilgit-Baltistan. They said the judges from Gilgit-Baltistan were equally competent and professional compared to their Pakistani counterparts.
In reply to a question, they said living in Giligi-Baltistan Haq Nawaz Advocate had showed his true colours by accusing the people of the region of being sectarian-minded and parochial. They said Haq Nawaz should tender an apology to the people of the region for his remarks and also take back his petition filed with the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
They also urged the Supreme Court to dismiss the petition of Haq Nawaz because he was the first non-local who had insulted the locals. They supported the petition filed by Dr Ghulam Abbas in the Supreme Court against appointment of aged and retired Pakistani judges in the higher judiciary of Gilgit-Baltistan.
Chief judge to retire
By Our Coresspondent
GILGIT: Chief Judge of the Supreme Appellate Court of Gilgit-Baltistan Mohammad Nawaz Abbasi will be retiring on January 14 after expiry of his three-year contract.
Sources said that if Justice Abbasi is not given extension, there is the possibility that Justice Syed Jaffar Shah would become the new chief judge of the appellate court.
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Noose being tightened around corrupt
By Our Correspondent
GILGIT: For the first time since Gilgit-Baltistan was given the so-called autonomous status through the 2009 presidential self-empowerment and autonomy order, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has been given the go-ahead to tighten its nooses around the recalcitrant and corrupt public servants who have been playing dirty tricks to loot the nation of its wealth for the last so many years without fearing any accountability.
Officials sources said NAB's local unit had been activated and its officials were collecting evidences and records to initiate investigations against corrupts bureaucrats who were posted since 1985 or were still working in the region in different capacities. Officials said the process to prepare the lists of the officials had already been started and in the second phase all the evidences were being collected against the officials at the moment.
Due to absence of any accountability in the region, public servants had got free hands in looting and plundering the national kitty and currently the situation is such that government officials, right from scale 1 to 22, have become owners of properties hugely disproportionate to their known sources of income.
It is horrendous to believe that not only these officials and their cronies have been involved in financial irregularities but also have always fanned sectarian hatred and tension in the region to achieve their nefarious designs and remained put in the same posts for years, ostensibly through the backing of their powerful masters.
As a result, today the whole region is smoldering in the fire of sectarianism and those who ignited the fire continue their looting spree to fill their own coffers. It is also a fact that each and every resident of Gilgit-Baltistan wants to live in peace and harmony with others irrespective of their ethnic and sectarian background. But who pitched them against each other during the last so many years? Certainly, these government officers who were supposed to serve the masses have had a hand in creating the pathetic situation. It is the misfortune of the two million people of the region that so far they have been kept deprived of all their basic rights. Due to absence of any legal cover to protect their rights, bureaucrats coming to the region from outside considered it a golden opportunity to cash in on the situation and loot the resources of the region with both hands.
Most of them succeeded in prolonging their stay here keeping in view that they can never get such a free hand in other parts of the country.
Fed up with rampant corruption and irregularities, the masses of the region had for long been feeling the need for laws under which all government officials could be brought under scrutiny for any wrongdoing. It should be taken as a big relief that NAB has activated its local office which hopefully put all the complaints and reports of misdeed under the scanner and give relief to the residents of the region.
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Govt breaks all record of corruption
By Our Correspondent
SKARDU: Former deputy speaker legislative assembly Wazir Willayat Ali has said the Mehdi Shah government has utterly failed to deliver and meet the promises made with the people of the region before coming to power.
Talking to this correspondent here, he said what the so-called democratic government of the PPP has bypassed all its competitors and broken all records is corruption which has permeated all fields of life.
He said during the tenure in which he served, it was almost impossible for any functionary of the government to involve in corruption. But unfortunately, during the current regime, corruption ahs broken all records and the poor man has been pushed to the wall. The ruling party is only serving and accommodating its jialas and near and dear ones.
Mr Willayat said the rulers were hell-bent upon looting the public wealth knowing well that it was their only chance to fill their coffers. He said that in every department, dear and dear ones of the rulers were being accommodated at the cost of merit. He said the latest such incident occurred in the education department where a mock exercise of taking test and interviews was conducted under the very nose of the chief secretary Gilgit-Baltistan. He said there were MA and Msc candidates but at the end of the day those having connections were accommodated ignoring the highly educated candidates.
He said the chief minister was helpless against the mafia in the education department which was playing havoc with the destiny of the nation.
My Willayat said that if timely measures were not taken, the nation would not tolerate these corrupt practices and rise against the rulers.
Extravagance of rulers continues
By Our Correspondent
GILGIT: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PNL-N) Gilgit-Baltistan leader Hafiz Hafizur Rehman has lambasted the ruling PPP for its double standard, saying on the one hand it continued crying foul about lack of funds and on the other lavishly spent over one billion rupees on non-development projects every year.
Talking to this correspondent on the phone, he said that the chief minister had been appointing advisers and advisers on political grounds which cost the exchequer dearly.
He said if the government did not utilize the funds on development projects, it would get nothing as after June 2012, no welfare project can be provided funds.
He said the JUI had been given jobs as it demanded while the mouth of the PML-Q had also been shut by including its members in the cabinet, so that there is no one to raise a voice and the rulers continue their corruption and irregularities.
Meanwhile, the PML-N held a meeting of its local leaders and office-bearers with Mr Hafizur Rehman in the chair. The meeting vowed to continue work for sectarian harmony in the region. The meeting praised the role of paramilitary forces for maintaining peace and law and order during Muharram.
'Declare GB tax free'
By Our Coresspondent
ISLAMABAD: Gilgit-Baltistan Council in a meeting here discussed the idea of tax imposition in the region.
Federal Minister and in charge of the council Mian Manzoor Watto presided over the meeting.
Members of the Council hailing from Gilgit-Baltistan demanded that 100 percent amount of GST and 80 percent share from customs duty should be given to GB. They also demanded that if their revenue sharing formula was not accepted the region should be declared a tax-free zone.
"Gilgit-Baltistan is paying hundreds of thousands of rupees as indirect tax per year," the members said. "We want the money to be spent on the welfare of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan."
The nominated member from center Aftab Shaban Mirani, raising objection, said that these issues were technical and it was necessary to consult with CBR before their approval.
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'Uplift of GB our priority'
By Our Correspondent
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Chaudhry Abdul Majid has said his government would make all-out efforts to help accelerate the process of development in the cash-starved Gilgit-Baltistan.
This he stated during a meeting with Gilgit-Baltistan chief minister Mehdi Shah in Islamabad the other day.
The GB chief minister said that due to unavailability of technical and medical institutions, students in his region were facing hardship in getting medical and engineering education. He requested the prime minister of AJK to increase the seats in the medical college of Azad Kashmir for the students of Gilgit-Baltistan. In reply, the prime minister announced 10 additional seats for the outstanding students of Gilgit-Baltistan.
For the new seats as well as the 100 per cent increase in seats allocated for the students of Gilgit-Baltistan at the Muzaffarabad University of Engineering and Technology, the chief minister tanked the government of AJK and said these steps would help the students in getting higher education and accelerate the process of development in the region.
The meeting also discussed modalities for expansion and repair of the Azad Kashmir-Astor highway. Both the sides were of the opinion that after reconstruction of the vital highway not only the local people would benefit but it would also boost tourism activities in the whole region.
10 more seats at Dawood College
By Our Coresspondent
KARACHI: The chief minister of Sindh, Syed Qaim Ali Shah has announced that additional 10 seats would be reserved at the Dawood College of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, for outstanding students from Gilgit-Baltistan.
The chief minister made this announcement during a meeting with his counterpart from Gilgit-Baltistan, Syed Mehdi Shah at the chief minister house here.
The Sindh chief minister also said that soon the Sindh Bank would open a branch in Gilgit-Baltistan to provide better banking facilities to the people of the region. -Continued on page-4
He also said that seats at the Benazir Bhutto Medical College Larkana would also be increased for the students of Gilgit-Baltistan.
He said that his government would continue providing all possible help to Gilgit-Baltistan for its development.
Speaking on the occasion, Mehdi Shah thanked the Sindh chief minister for announcing the additional seats at the engineering college and said that due to unavailability of technical institutions in his area, students were facing lots of hardship in acquiring education.
Meanwhile, Mehdi Shah also met the managing director of PIA, Nadeem Yousufzai at the PIA headquarters and discussed issued relating to the operation of the national flag carrier to Gilgit-Baltistan.
The PIA chief promised that one additional flight would be operated on the Gilgit-Islamabad route on every Monday noon to facilitate the people of the region.
Rally held
By Our Coresspondent
GILGIT: A rally was held in solidarity with the people of Balochistan on the occasion of world human rights day here.
The rally was held at the NLI Chowk under the aegis of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan's special task force for Gilgit-Baltistan.
A large number of people, including human rights activists, civil society representatives and people from other walks of life attended the rally.
They expressed solidarity with the people of Balochistan and said efforts would continue to support all those who were facing rights violations.
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کشمیر کی تحریک اور غیر ملکی ایجنٹ لگتا ہے کشمیر…
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متھل صاحب اسلام وعلئیکم امید ہے مزاج بخیر ہونگے جنابوالہ…
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on Thursday, 08 July 2010 14:32
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Wow I really appreciate to all the Bengesahar team for…
Written by Nusrat Ali Rustam
on Thursday, 01 July 2010 10:38
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I have an acuantice with Bange Sahar from the time…
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on Tuesday, 29 June 2010 16:28
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شکر الحمداللہ: بانگ سحر نے اپنے صحافتی سفر کااےک اورمنزل…
Written by Anwar Ali
on Tuesday, 29 June 2010 15:53
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