Rising terror cases in Gilgit city

By Dj Mathal

 Unfortunately, incidents of target killings have again started in the Gilgit city though the local police, as usual, claimed that they have rounded up the accused persons along with the weapons used in the crime and shifted them to an undisclosed location for interrogation. In the latest incident, the culprits opened indiscriminate fire near Zawwar Masjid at Basen locality of the city and killed Naib Tehsidar Mohammad Akbar and injured his brother Abdus Samad. In yet another incident, scores of people were injured and, according to eyewitnesses, the accused in both the incidents succeeded in making their escape good.

The incidents of target killings are not new in Gigit-Baltistan but had started in the region way back in 1988, during the era of military dictator Ziaul Haq, when armed men from the NWFP brutally and mercilessly mowed down hundreds of innocent people in the Jalalabad village and tried to implicate the residents of the Diamer district in a well calculated move to create sectarian schism in the region. Due to absence of a proper judicial system, the victims and their bereaved families never got justice. In the year 2005, the so-called hidden hands eliminated eminent religious scholar Agha Ziauddin and again succeeded in shedding the blood of the people on sectarian violence. As has been the traditions, the police each time claimed to have arrested the responsible persons but everybody knows it very well that so far none of the culprits has been brought to justice and perhaps never would be in the future.
The Gilgit city spreads over a very minor area where law enforcement agencies including the Rangers, Police, NA Scouts along with hordes of secret agencies personnel are always deployed ostensibly to maintain law and order. But what does it mean when in the presence of so many security forces, armed men not only freely roam in the tiny city but also do whatever they wish without any hindrance and check? Besides the target killings, bomb blasts have also been carried out in the city for the last many months. Not only that, drug trafficking is increasing in the area. However, it is strange that the law enforcers have never seriously tried to protect the lives and properties of the masses and check such crimes. These agencies and security forces are provided funds amounting to millions of rupees at the cost of the economic survival of the poor residents of the region but the security forces personnel never perform any meaningful duty for the nation except providing security to a handful of bureaucrats and high ranking security officers. At the movement the situation is such that despite being the red zone, the areas of Shooni and Panora have been infested with criminal activities.
The most condemnable part of the situation is that so far none of the culprits has been arrested and brought to justice. It is also a fact that Rangers personnel are deployed at a picket beside the river a few yards away from the point in Basen where the naib tehsildar was killed recently but they did nothing to arrest the attackers. The residents have for long been pointing out that the local residents of Basen upper, Chinar Chowk Nipura Basen, and Shoti Nipura are facing threat to their lives and economic survival and security personnel should be deployed for their protection but the local administration has given no heed to the appeals.
It is also a fact that local Ulema have also not succeeded in controlling the uncertainty in the region though the masses give more weightage to their advice and speeches as compared to the local administration officials and political leaders. It is the need of the hour that religious leaders should play their role in persuading the people to live in peace and harmony and promote brotherhood in the region. On the other hand, various political parties especially the Labour Party, Jamaat e Islami, and the BNF have not only always condemned the repeated incidents of such killings but also demanded that the rulers and public representatives should take immediate steps including needed legislation to curb the incidents and restore peace in the region.
Because of being the third constitution-less region in the world after Palestine and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan has become the worst region as far as rampant violations of human rights are concerned. As none of the laws in the world, including those prevalent in Pakistan, are implemented in this region, the local administration as well as the security forces are unable to take steps necessary for safeguarding the lives, properties as well as dignity of the residents.  These departments and their officials are least concerned about the outcome of their acts as they know that they are not answerable to anyone and neither there would be any accountability of them.
Pakistan has always taken the issue of the region for granted and of late has introduced yet another package to hoodwink the locals as well as the international community. Under the new drama, elections were held for the so called legislative assembly but the whole process was marred with record breaking irregularities and rigging. Even four months after the elections, the chief minister has been unable to form his own cabinet. Under such a murky situation and with the unending incidents of killings and other law and order concerns, the residents live in perpetual uncertainty with no prospects of a better tomorrow.
The new governor and the chief minister should realize that their foremost responsibility is to protect the lives and honor of the residents otherwise the claims and promises of economic well-being and prosperity would always remain a pipedream as has been the case during the last over 62 years.