PoK forum demands freedom for Gilgit, Baltistan

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 10. Resentment is growing in Gilgit and Baltistan, originally a part of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, but now illegally annexed by Pakistan, even as a major forum comprising various political parties has demanded complete independence from Islamabad in order to protect their fundamental rights.

``Pakistani rule cannot be spread over Gilgit and Baltistan and these areas ought to be treated as a foreign country,'' the chairman of the Gilgit-Baltistan Thinkers Forum, Mr. Wajahat Hassan, said in a statement here.

Pakistan Government had declared these two areas as part of that country and had kept them under a military ruler nominated by Islamabad.

Mr. Hassan said Pakistan never trusted the people of Gilgit and Baltistan ``though they (Islamabad) have been exploiting the areas time and again.'' He alleged that the Government was ``engineering'' blasts in Gilgit and arresting innocent citizens. This was in retaliation to the people's gesture of observing August 14 as the ``day of deprivation,'' he said.

- PTI

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