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Unverified Arrests and Alleged Crackdowns Target Activists in Gilgit-Baltistan
In a move that critics say is designed to suppress dissent and prevent an anticipated protest, authorities have detained key figures of the Public Action Committee and other active workers following the rubber stamp passage of the Land Reforms Bill by the assembly. The alleged crackdown involved indiscriminate arrests, excessive use of violence, and claims based on vague FIRs against unknown individuals in Boriat Gujhol.
Notably, Asif Sakhi, the deputy president of the Public Workers Party in Gilgit-Baltistan, along with several young activists from Pasu, were taken into custody without any tangible evidence. This action has drawn widespread condemnation, with observers describing it as nothing short of a deliberate maneuver by what they call colonial-era ruling forces. According to critics, the strategy is clear: sow discord among the people while seizing control of integrated lands and the mineral resources that have long been the region’s lifeblood.
The crackdown follows the recent rubber stamp approval of the Land Reforms Bill in the assembly—a move that many believe was engineered to quell public dissent and forestall upcoming protests. Analysts argue that this pattern of unjustified arrests and violent repression is a continuation of an old tactic used by the state to divert attention from its failure to address key regional grievances.
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The incident has evoked memories of past tragedies. Activists recalled the Atah Abad incident and pointed to events in 2010 in Hunza Nagar, when workers were deliberately provoked amid a systematic campaign of rumormongering. That episode escalated into widespread unrest, with coordinated attempts to foment violence across Hunza, Gujhol, and Nagar, only to be later exposed by political leaders and religious scholars.
In an impassioned statement, local voices urged the youth not to fall victim to what they described as a calculated conspiracy aimed at crushing grassroots activism. “Young people must come together, expose the tarnished faces of the bureaucratic machinery, and ensure that these divisive plots are not allowed to succeed,” one activist warned.
The development has cast a spotlight on the long standing struggle over control of the region’s land and mineral resources, and it remains to be seen how these unfolding events will shape the political landscape of Gilgit-Baltistan in the coming months.
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