GILGIT: On the sixth consecutive day of their protest
against the imposition of taxes on Gilgit-Baltistan’s residents, a large
number of traders, transporters and other people of the region began a
march on Tuesday towards Gilgit from Skardu in a bid to mount pressure
on the federal government for withdrawal of the taxes till provision of a
constitutional status to the region.
The strikes begun
on Dec 21 in 10 districts of the region and sit-ins at Skardu’s Yadgar
Chowk and Gilgit’s Etihad Chowk have been attracting thousands of people
despite harsh weather conditions.
Travelling in around
500 vehicles, protesters taking part in the march included members of
political and religious parties of the region. The protesters are
scheduled to arrive in Gilgit on Wednesday where they will join the
sit-in going on in the city.
According to sources,
several rounds of talks between officials of the GB government and the
protesters since the beginning of the protest, have remained unfruitful.
Leaders of the protesters have accused the GB government of trying to foil the protest against the imposition of taxes.
Addressing
the protesters in Gilgit, Leader of the Opposition in the GB
Legislative Assembly Muhammad Shafi Khan said that the people of the
region had never opposed the taxes. But, he added, they wanted the
federal government to give a constitutional status to the region if it
wanted to collect taxes from its people.
He said the GB
people had been paying taxes like those living in other parts of the
country, but they did not enjoy all rights of a citizen of the country.
“We are patriotic people and we have rendered many sacrifices for
Pakistan, but unfortunately we are the most ignored people of the
country.”
He said the protest would continue in the region till the acceptance of their demands.
Mr
Khan accused the GB chief minister and members of his cabinet of
deliberately trying to turn a peaceful protest into a violent movement.
Fatullah
Khan, secretary general of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s GB chapter,
called upon the Pakistan Army to play its role in resolving the issue.
GB
Administration Action Committee leader Maulana Sultan Raees said that
GB was a disputed territory and imposition of taxes on its citizens was
unlawful and unconstitutional. “When the government wants to collect
taxes from GB people they are declared citizens of the country and when
they demand equal rights it is said that the region is a disputed
territory. The government is trying to blackout media coverage of the
protest,” he added.
Markazi Anjuman-i-Tajiran president
Muhammad Ibrahim accused both the federal and GB governments of cheating
the people of the region. “Many promises have been made with GB people,
but no one is serious about taking any practical step,” he added.
GB assembly member Javed Hussain asked “why GB people have been waiting for their constitutional rights for decades”.
Addressing
the protesters in Skardu, GB council member Syed Abbas said the GB
people would not pay taxes until a constitutional status was provided to
their region.
Meanwhile, the GB administration has decided to take some security measures for maintaining law and order in the region.
According
to a press release, the decision was taken at a meeting attended by the
commandant of Force Command Northern Areas, GB Chief Minister Dr Kazim
Niaz, IGP Sabir Ahmed and representatives of intelligence agencies.
In a late night development, negotiations between the protesters and the authorities succeeded, leading to the possibility that the march would be called off, the sources said.