Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) contin­ues to languish on the periph­ery in the domain of national pri­orities. The already impoverished region of GB is reeling with woes, crises upon crises.

GB is now being stripped of a historic and decades-old stipulat­ed wheat subsidy right granted to it during the ‘70s by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto on the basis of its dis­puted status. The federal govern­ment of Pakistan is a signatory and hence, is obliged to grant the subsidy until the resolution of its limbo status according to United Nations resolutions.

The Chief Minister of GB and the local government are bereft of any genuine authority or power. GB is squarely run by a non-local, state-sponsored bureaucrat. The local government has no funds to resolve issues because of the de­lay in the issuance of allocated funds from the Centre.

Protest sit-ins are already be­ing held in all three divisions of GB, especially against the revoca­tion of wheat subsidies and health cards (health cards issued dur­ing the PTI regime). The sense of marginalisation and deprivation is growing in the populace day by day. The apathy of the state does not seem to have changed. When it comes to GB, national political leaders only play into the gallery, presenting a glamorised and ro­manticised picture of GB to their audience, oblivious to its protract­ed woes and tribulations.

GB needs a shift of attention from its bolstering praise about its natural beauty to its reeling impoverishment and miseries. We have no dearth of local, national, and even international vloggers and documentary makers to de­pict its natural beauty.

Given the territorial impor­tance GB holds in the geopoliti­cal, geo-strategic, and geo-eco­nomic arena, Pakistan cannot afford to turn a blind eye towards this region anymore, lest an ever-growing sense of alienation and deprivation should be exploited by players lurking around such vulnerabilities. Therefore, ad­dressing the challenges in Gilgit-Baltistan with a sense of urgen­cy and decisive action is the most rational course to safeguard the region’s well-being and prevent external exploitation.

ZAHID ALI ZOHRI,

Gilgit.