Indigenous people protest as Islamabad looks to tighten grip on illegally-occupied Gilgit Baltistan

Oct 19, 2021

Gilgit Baltistan, 19 October 2021: - A huge gathering comprising members of a regional political party, Awami Action Committee, rights activists and nationalists gathered in Gilgit to oppose Islamabad’s policies, which they accused were interfering, exploitative and discriminatory. The event was held in the face of Islamabad’s vigorous attempts at expanding its political control over the illegally occupied region. Locals fear the policies that are being framed in the name of empowering the region are in reality a diabolic design to alter the demographics of the region and gradually secure the ownership of the land that locals possess. In the latest move, Pakistan has paved the way for non-natives to gain lease-based control of the hotels and lands in the region. Locals say they will never let such anti-native policies get implemented as they were neither considered nor consulted during the policy-drafting process.