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Posts published in September 2009

PML-Q for NA body meeting on Gilgit-Baltistan

The News, Sept 29 ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) MNA Marvi Memon has decided to call a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Northern Areas to discuss the passing of the self-governance order without the approval of the Northern Areas Legislative Assembly (NALA) or the Kashmir and Northern Areas Standing Committee despite the prime minister’s commitment. In a letter to Chairman National Assembly Standing Committee on Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas Shehzada Mohiuddin,…

No funds to resume renovation of Quaid’s birthplace in Pakistan

By Bhagwandas The Dawn, Sept 28 KARACHI, Sept 27: Because of a paucity of funds, the restoration work of the Wazir Mansion — the birthplace of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah — has been suspended for over 15 months, it has been learnt reliably. While the government is spending billions of rupees on various projects in the city, the historical structure located in the old city neighbourhood of Kharadar, awaits a mere Rs3 million so that…

India declines to fix date for resumption of dialogue: The Dawn, Sept 28

By Anwar Iqbal and Masood Haider NEW YORK, Sept 27: The blasts that rocked Mumbai in November last year also destroyed the possibility of the resumption of a composite dialogue between South Asia’s two nuclear neighbours, India and Pakistan. After extensive, two-hour talks at New York’s Palace Hotel, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna admitted that the two sides failed to fix a date for the resumption of dialogue suspended…

Kashmiris in UK condemn Pak over Gilgit-Baltistan package

London: A UK-based Kashmiri group has accused Pakistan of never hesitating to fund militants in the Northern Areas and rejected that country’s move to give the Gilgit-Baltistan region a province-like status. “Pakistani establishment has always exploited the people of Gilgit-Baltistan. It has never hesitated to fund jihadi and sectarian Taliban in the region for a long time,” Mujatba Ali Shah, Information Secretary of the United Kashmir People’s National Party (UKPNP), told Kashmiris demonstrating in front…

Policemen help suspected in Gilgit Killings

The Dawn, Sept 28 GILGIT, Sept 27: The incident of violence in which four persons died on Saturday has been widely condemned in the region declaring it an act to sabotage the forthcoming elections. Talking to this correspondent, Pakistan Muslim League-N president Hafizur Rehman the act of terror would not affect the ongoing political reforms and elections for the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly. He said involvement of external hands were possible in the incident. He expressed…

Hunza people continue protest for two seats in GBLA

By Zulfiqar Ali Khan in The Dawn, Sept 27 HUNZA, Sept 26: People of Hunza as part of their ongoing protest drive organised a big rally under the aegis of All Hunza Action Committee (AHAC) here on Friday for acceptance of their demands. They were demanding an additional seat in Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly (GBLA) before the forthcoming election. This was the third major public protest after the successful events in Aliabad and Nasirabad Hunza. The…

Four killed in Gilgit bomb blast, protests: The Dawn, Sept 27

GILGIT, Sept 26: Four people were killed and several others injured on Saturday in a bomb blast and violent protests that followed, police said. The bomb went off in a bookshop in a busy market on the Airport Road, injuring four people. They were taken to the DHQ hospital where one of them died. Gilgit police chief Khurshid Alam said it was a locally-made device. After the blast, protesters took to the streets and pelted…

Top judge in Kashmir may face reference: The Dawn, Sept 26

By Tariq Naqash MUZAFFARABAD, Sept 25: The president of his own faction of Muslim Conference (MC-F) Raja Farooq Haider on Friday announced that his party will convince Prime Minister Sardar Mohammad Yaqoob Khan to file a reference through President Raja Zulqarnain Khan with the Supreme Judicial Council against AJK Supreme Court Chief Justice Reaz Akhtar Chaudhry for alleged breach of constitution. Talking to journalists, he claimed that Mr Chaudhry had ceased to qualify as judge…

AJK finance department defies rules

By Tariq Naqash in The Dawn, Sept 26 MUZAFFARABAD, Sept 25: In what many official circles regard as sheer disregard to clear instructions of the federal government as well as treasury rules, the AJK finance department has released a tranche of Rs210 million to the Local Government and Rural Development (LG&RD) department under alleged intense pressure by the government in order to allow the department to carry on its practice of advance withdrawal of funds…

PPP-PML-N alliance in Gilgit-Baltistan likely: The Dawn, Sept 26

ISLAMABAD, Sept 25: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) may forge an alliance with the Pakistan Muslim League-N to form a coalition government in Gilgit-Baltistan, according to the party’s secretry-general Jehangir Badr. “We can make an alliance with any political party in the region,” he said at a press conference here on Friday after a meeting with leaders of his party in Gilgit-Baltistan. Political analysts here believe that there is a possibility of the PPP and…

Experts question legality of GB assembly elections: The Dawn, Sept 25

GILGIT, Sept 24: Experts have raised questions about the legal status of forthcoming elections for Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly, saying that polls will be in violation of the newly promulgated Empowerment and Self-governance Ordinance 2009 if a free and independent election commission is not formed for the purpose. They fear that the entire process of elections for legislative assembly can be challenged in a court of law after the promulgation of the self-governance ordinance. The ordinance…