PoGB: Religious leader voices support for people demanding land, water ownership rights

Skardu [PoGB], June 10 : Allama Raja Nasir Abbas Jafri, a religious leader from Pakistan expressed his support to the people of Pakistan-occupied-Gilgit Baltistan (PoGB), demanding the ownership of land and water resources in the region.
Several religious leaders have been highlighting the scarcity of resources in Pakistan-occupied-Gilgit Baltistan (PoGB) raising their concerns over the wrongdoings of the ruling party and the matter of leasing guest houses and forest lands to private entities in PoGB.
Addressing a public conference in Skardu, Jafri said, "We have not won the battle as of yet, and we will win our rights one day. As you are the real owners of minerals that come out of this land."
Stressing that the forests and rivers belong to people, he accused the local administration of "looting" people.
"You are the owners of these forests, you are the owners of all these rivers and the water that flows in them. And it all belongs to you, and no one can take it away. But the administrators of this land are against you. The land that you had protected and conserved for ages now is in the hands of these thankless people who do not care about these resources. They have been looting these resources and they have been looting you and have been filling their own pockets," the religious leader said.
He added, "They have been conspiring against you so that the control remains with them and the compensation they give remains extremely less and benefits them. This is an atrocity that is being inflicted upon you. Everything from these mountains to the sea touching rivers, everything in PoGB belongs to you.
In a separate press conference, Mushtaq Ahmed, the head of the PoGB and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) chapter of Jamaat-e-Islami highlighted several issues being faced by the people of PoJK and PoGB.
The religious leader then highlighted that the area is suffering from severe poverty.
"The entire area has been suffering through severe poverty, and the income of the general public is very low. If you leave aside Skardu and Gilgit you will notice that there is extreme unemployment. The same has been the condition of education, the people here deserve more education opportunities and are not getting it," Ahmed said.
The area of PoGB has been the same for several years, as the area has suffered from infrastructural underdevelopment and resource distribution issues for several decades.
Previously, the residents of PoGB had expressed deep frustration with the worsening infrastructure and substandard road conditions in the region.
Recently, members of the Awami Action Committee expressed disappointment over the government's failure to provide them with basic amenities while highlighting the dire state of roadways. They emphasised numerous instances of administrative neglect, citing concerns including the risk of accidents due to poorly maintained roads, especially in the Khanbari area.
"The public is facing numerous problems. The roads are so poorly maintained that people carrying sacks of wheat risk falling into the river. The authorities must take immediate action to improve the roads in Khanbari. The residents are distressed, but no one is listening. This highlights the incompetence and apathy of the local government," an activist from the Awami Action Committee said.