PoGB residents demand constitutional rights; urge govt to resolve issues

Religious and political parties in Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan have launched a movement to grant constitutional status to the area. Both the opposition and the administration urged the federal government to resolve the issue at an earliest, Dawn reported.

These demands were made during a discussion titled ‘Important Political Issues of PoGB and Their Solutions’ held at Islamabad’s National Press Club on Thursday. The event was organised by several political parties.

A joint statement issued at the end of the event stating that all political and religious parties were in consensus that the biggest issue of PoGB people was its constitutional status and identity, Dawn reported.

The declaration said there had been a lack of collective efforts by local parties for PoGB’s constitutional rights. All political and religious parties will work jointly for the political rights of the region, as reported by Dawn.

The speakers expressed that the financial issues of the region required urgent attention for which stakeholders needed to make “sincere efforts beyond political differences”. The declaration demanded the implementation of proposals for the provisional constitutional province status of PoGB. Other speakers also urged the federal government to settle the constitutional status of the region.

Recently, Lawyers in the PoGB region demanded equal rights and access to basic facilities, such as healthcare and specialized courts, which are available to their counterparts in other parts of Pakistan. They highlighted the absence of dedicated courts in PoGB, leading to significant delays in delivering justice to the local population.

The lawyers’ protest came amidst growing frustration among the legal community, which had led to calls for urgent reforms. The ongoing protest signifies that the PoGB people are voicing against the exploitation of the district’s resources, worsening financial mismanagement and atrocities which they face every day. Despite repeated protests and demands from the people of PoGB, their voices continue to fall on deaf ears, with no concrete action taken to address their grievances.