Locals stage protest on highway in Gilgit-Baltistan against administrative apathy

Gilgit-Baltistan [PoK], August 11 (ANI): Hundreds of locals and students staged a protest on a highway in Pakistan occupied Gilgit-Baltistan, complaining about administrative apathy.

One of the protesting students said that despite paying fees, teachers don’t show up to teach. “Despite paying fees, our teachers don’t show up. We urge the administration to arrange teachers for us and take action against the ones who take salaries but don’t come to school,” a student from Gilgit-Baltistan said on Tuesday.

Complaining about the problems, one of the locals said their appeals for basic facilities go unheard and no one comes to their rescue. “The sewage water mixes with drinking water and our court appeals go unheard. There’s an inconvenience because of this protest, but we can’t help it,” a local said.

Regular protests are commonplace in the region. Last month, members of civil society bodies and others had staged a protest against the “Skardu Baltistan Administration” over the power outage in Skardu city. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), the life of people in Gilgit-Baltistan, especially students, has worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The pandemic was a huge blow to educational institutions, with students compelled to attend online classes to the detriment of thousands in Balochistan, the tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Gilgit-Baltistan, who had little or no access to reliable internet connections,” HRCP said in its annual report.

In recent years, the administration in PoK has passed several laws to curb freedom of expression, particularly related to the political status of the region, the report added. (ANI)