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Posts published in August 2012

Girl, infant wounded in Gilgit firing

GILGIT, Aug 29: Unidentified gunmen ambushed a car in Amphary Gilgit, leaving a 16-year-old girl and an infant seriously wounded here on Wednesday. Police said that a cleric Qari Khan Mohammad was going in his car along with his family members when he came under attack. They said that the Qari escaped unhurt, but two of his family members were wounded, who were taken to civil hospital, Kashrote. When contacted, doctors at the hospital said…

Kohistanis block KKH against suspension of police recruitment

MANSEHRA, Aug 29: The enraged residents of Kohistan blocked Karakoram Highway (KKH) for entire day on Wednesday to protest suspension of recruitment process in police department. A large number of people including candidates, who have applied for 115 vacant posts in police, and their relatives placed stones and rocks on KKH in the morning to block it to traffic. Hundreds of passenger vehicles remained stranded on both sides of the road till evening. The protesters…

Lawyers oppose G-B’s accession to Pakistan

By AH Nizami  in The Express Tribune, August 30th, 2012. MIRPUR: The Mirpur District Bar Association (MDBA) expressed serious concerns on Wednesday over reports that the Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) region will be acceded to Pakistan through a resolution passed by the G-B Legislative Assembly. The MDBA in its meeting warned the government of Pakistan to desist from taking any hasty decision regarding the accession of G-B to Pakistan. G-B is part of the disputed State of…

Killing conservation: Editorial in The Express Tribune, Aug 29

It should have been clear by now to authorities involved in conservation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) that efforts to save endangered species there are failing. In the second incident in just over three months, another leopard was shot dead by villagers in the Khadorda Village near the town of Bhimber. A similar incident involving the killing of a leopard took place in May this year. There have also been other cases before this,…

Imprisoned, an activist speaks: By Kiran Nazish in Foreign Policy, Aug28

Kiran Nazish is a journalist and activist based in Pakistan. Last year, human rights activist Baba Jan Hunzai spoke out as an advocate for the former residents of Hunza Valley, whose homes were swept away by the lake formed after a 2010 land slide blocked the flow of the Hunza River. Named the Attabad Lake, it displaced over 1,000 people who lost their homes, livelihoods and access to the world. When these displacements did not…

Operation against terrorists in GB soon: Malik

SKARDU: Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Tuesday again made it clear that criminals had been running towards Gilgit-Baltistan as they feared military operation in Waziristan. Talking to media men here, the interior minister said that a targeted operation would soon be launched against terrorists in Darel area of Gilgit-Baltistan. Malik added that militants were being monitored via satellite in this area. Criminals of Waziristan had been running towards Gilgit-Baltistan, Malik said and added that he…

Students baton charged at Skardu Airport

SKARDU, Aug 28: The police on Tuesday resorted to baton charge to disperse students, who were protesting at the airport here against unavailability of flights to Islamabad. Several protesters, including two local journalists, who were covering the event, were injured. The injured were shifted to DHQ hospital The students resorted to protest after the federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik, who arrived here on Monday and was also at the airport during the protest, failed to…

AJK PP leader says he respects judiciary

By Tariq Naqash  in Dawn, Aug 28 MUZAFFARABAD, Aug 27: Former Prime Minister and ruling People’s Party leader Barrister Sultan Mahmood denied before the full bench of AJK Supreme Court, here on Monday, having made any contemptuous remarks against the judiciary which, he said, he held in high esteem. On August 7, the AJK Supreme Court had directed Mr Mahmood to personally appear before it on August 27 to clarify his statement appeared in a…

Poor law and order in Gilgit irks politicians

GILGIT, Aug 27: Politicians belonging to both ruling and opposition parties on Monday called for taking strict measures to ensure protection to lives and properties of people. Speaker Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly Wazir Baig said situation was getting out of the control of the government and it was time to take some stern and serious action to establish peace and tranquility in the region. Talking to this correspondent he said local people were involved in violent…

Gilgit shootings: Four cops suspended, 12 suspects rounded up

GILGIT: Four policemen, in whose presence a cop was killed and another was shot injured a day earlier, were suspended by the local government on Sunday. Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Ali Sher said an inquiry has been initiated against the four policemen for negligence. The incident occurred near Rax Chowk at 5am on Saturday, when two motorcycle riders were stopped by the policemen for violating a recently imposed ban on travelling on motorbikes.…

The Shia tragedy: edit in Daily Times, Aug 19

Non-stop killing of the Shia minority has rattled the international press and even evoked condemnation from the UN Secretary General. From recurrent summary executions of the Shias in Gilgit to near daily killings of Hazara Shias in Balochistan and sporadic big-city incidents like the al-Quds Day blast in Karachi, the Shia minority comprising 15 percent of our population ends up amongst the dispossessed of the country. Even the simplest investigation into the matter reveals disturbing…