News update from Yasin

By Liaquat Begal 

Yasin, July 5: Zong Mobile Company has not been able to start its services in Thoi, a large village of Yasin valley. Although the company has completed construction of the infrastructure, but for unclear reasons over two thousand people of Thoi are still deprived of this essential service. 

According to reports, a local contractor involved in construction of the infrastructure, is behind the delay. The local community has appealed to the company to initiate the communication services in the village, on urgent basis. They have also blamed the community representatives and politicians for not putting their efforts for provision of the utility.

Nationalists of Gilgit – Baltistan likely to defeat pro-Pakistan parties, Ghazanfar Ali Khan

PT report

Gilgit, July 4: Chief Executive of the Northern Areas Legislative Assembly (NALA), Ghazanfar Ali Khan, has warned Islamabad that nationlist parties of Gilgit – Baltistan will defeat “pro-Pakistan” (federalist) parties in the coming election.

Daily Times’ Iqbal Khattak has reported Ghazanfar as saying that the nationalist parties are exploiting “policies of Islamabad towards Northern Areas” and “funded by foreign elements… gaining strength in the region”. The report says that Ghazanfar termed Abdul Hameed Khan of BNF (Hameed) as “the Altaf Hussain of Northern Areas”.

“We can fight these forces if Islamabad gives constitutional powers in our hands,” Ghazanfar reportedly said.

The nationalists and their symapathizers are terming these fresh comments of Ghazanfar as an effort to involve “invisible hands” in the forthcoming elections. “This is almost tantamount to pre-election rigging”, said a member of  Karakuram Students Organization (KSO).  A sympathizer of BNF rebuked the statement of Ghazanfar saying “If Hameed is the Altaf Hussain of Northern Areas, Ghazanfar is the Mir Jafer of Gilgit – Baltistan”.

It is for the first time that chief executive of the NALA has pointed out the nationalists in a very harsh tone. It is pertinent to note here that BNF has been working in the region since 1992-93, and during this period it has divided into two sub-groups (Hameed & Naji). Similarly, Karakuram National Movement has been operational since 1980s. Also at Daily Times

[Youth in action] Sound System purchased for social events

by Qasim Shah

Karachi, July 3: Members of the Ismaili Boys Scouts Group – Gulmit Unit, have purchased a new sound system for facilitating social events in the village. The scouts had started a fund raising movement for purchase of the equipments and were able to raise over 150,000 rupees, in a span of two months, mainly from people and organizations of the village. Members of the purchase team packed the equipments in Karachi and want to use it on 11th July, the Imamat Day of His Highness the Aga Khan.

Talking to this correspondent in Karachi members of the purchase team said that they were excited about their efforts and would continue to work for resolving small and large issues of the region through collective and systematic action. “This is not a very big contribution”, said a member of the team, “but it shows that if we work with honesty and determination we can help betterment of our society.

The scouts group has started various civic engagement projects in the region, whereby member are able to contribute voluntarily for reducing various issues.

Focused on nature – Photographs by Prince Hussain Aga Khan

“In my photographs, I let the animals and trees speak for themselves and hope other people see what I see.”

 Hussain Aga Khan

Visit Website

Ghazanfar visits Khudabad, inaugrates “Ghazanfar Block” at DJ School

by Piyar Ali Sagi

Gilgit, June: Chief executive Gilgit-Baltistan Mir Ghazanfar Ali Khan visited Khudabad Gojal and announced many packages for the village such as construction of metal road, new water project for Didar Abad and 3o lakh

File photo.

rupees for other infrastructure development projects. 

He also  inaugurated a new block at the D J middle school building which has been named as Ghazanfar block. He also ordered that water tanks which had been seized by NAPWD last year, shall be issued immediately.

Also acoompnaying the chief executive during this visit were MDC  Jan Alam and Rani Atiqa, member of NALA. Traditional program had been arranged in honor of the visitng guests. Numberdar Mohammad Raziq Zoqi offered lunch for the guests at his residence.

Worst road condition affecting tourism in NAs

by Yousuf Ali

GILGIT: The worst condition of road is the main reason for the dwindling tourism in the beautiful valleys of Northern Areas where tourist activities are almost invisible in the peak season.

There are certainly other reasons contributing to the worsening tourism activities in this most peaceful region. The other reasons include the unclear status of the areas, their name and the sectarian tension, which sometime result in clashes.

“The road right from Gilgit to Thakot in Battagram district presents its worst shape. It is due to the lousy road the 14-hour drive from Gilgit to Pindi can now be covered in 25 long hours,” said a driver.

An official of Northern Areas Transport Corporation (Natco), wishing not to be named told, The News that the road might pose threat to the integration of the country, as according to him the people of the Northern Areas had serious reservations over the backbreaking land route. More

FOCUS HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE bags yet another award

  

  Islamabad, June 30: At the historic Second Forum of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction held in Geneva, Switzerland, FOCUS HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE (FHA)- Pakistan, was recognized by the Jury of 2009 Sasakawa Award Laureate and accorded with the Certificate of Merit in recognition of its meritorious services rendered for mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction in the high risk mountainous regions of Pakistan.

According to a press note released by FHA the Certificate has been awarded to FOCUS Pakistan “for its outstanding submission of ideas and recommendations proposed for enhancing disaster risk reduction and correlated humanitarian response mechanisms in its respective geographical location.”

Mr. Ghulam Panjwani, Executive Officer along with Mr. Amyn Dossa, Chairman of the Board of Directors received the Certificate, on 16th June, 2009, from Sir John Holmes, Under Secretary of the United Nations for Humanitarian Affairs ,  at a highly distinguished and stately ceremony held at the premise of the UNISDR.

The United Nations Sasakawa Award for Disaster Risk Reduction is one of the three prestigious awards established in 1986 by Mr. Ryoichi Sasakawa, the founding Chairman of the Nippon Foundation.

PT just got better!!

Hello readers,

Pamir Times has taken a number of steps for improvement of services and positioning PT in a more objective manner. We believe that these changes reflect popular demands of our readers.  Some of the steps that we have taken are:

 

•  PT purchased 5 GB extra space for storing more data online
• This purcahse enables us to also add music (audio) files to the blog
• A new domain name has been purchased to give PT a more professional look 
• Lastly, but never the least, we have adopted the new PT Slogan. Pamir Times aims to Inform, Inspire and Involve its readers in pursuit of  a better society.

So, as members of the PT family, we all stand to;

Team PT

Let there be no light in Gojal valley!!

by Nur

Gulmit, June 29: Consistent breakdown of the electricity supply infrastructure and unannounced load shedding, for 48 hours at times, has frustrated thousands of people in many villages of Gojal valley, the largest Tehsil of Gilgit – Baltistan. Recently there was no electricity for four days (72 hours) because of disruption in the power supply systems, as Chinese engineers bulldozed pylons, working on expansion of the KKH. Gojal (Hunza) is considered to be a hub of tourism in the entire region and the current power crisis doesn’t augur well for tourism industry.
 
An hotelier told this correspondent that tourists are the worst sufferers because supply of fresh food items can’t due to power breakdowns. Hotels and other business dependent on electricity have lost hundreds of thousands of rupees as perishable items get destroyed due to pro-longed power failures. Students are also facing difficulty in carrying on their studies because of unavailability of electricity.
 
Experts and community leaders blame the lack of capacity of the power infrastructure and the NAPWD workers for the torturous absence of electricity. Leader of a youth organization told this correspondent that the authorities are not heeding to the woes of the community “because people of the region are peaceful and avoid strikes, road blockades and other non-peaceful methods of diverting government attention”. He, however, warned “the usually peaceful people will not be able to tolerate criminal neglect of the authorities for long”. He warned that the Karakuram Highway will be blocked if the issue wasn’t resolved on urgent basis.
 
According to community representatives the issue has been discussed with top government officials like chief secretary, secretary works and the assistant commissioner but despite of promises made in the past no improvement can be seen the system. See also

Illegal drugs and equipments burnt in Sost

by Farhat Ullah Baig

Sost, June 29: Large amounts of smuggled items captured by the Customs department at Sost, where torched by officlas on 28 June. The destroyed items included fire crakcers,  alcohol, sex pills, ciggarete lighters spreading obscene pictures and other illegal items.

Northern Wireless expanding services, with enhanced speed

PT Report

Gilgit, June 29: Northern Wireless, a joint venture of Dialog and SCO, plans to expand services to remote parts of Gilgit – Baltistan, providing cheap and fast internet, besides lucrative call rates. This was stated by Ali Anwar, the company’s zonal sales manager, while talking to Pamir Times.

He said that all seven districts of GB will be covered, including places like Kiris, Tirmuk and Chorbut in Baltistan, Gulmit, Chipursan and Shimshal in Hunza Valley, Yasin and Gupis of Ghizar valley, Ratu of Astore valley , Jaghlote of Gilgit district and parts of Diamir district.

He also said that the internet speed has further increased due to restoration of the SCO fiber optic link.

KKH Journal’s 2nd edition launched

To access the 2nd edition, or the first edition, please click on the link below.

http://www.kkh-journal.org

[Pictory] Cultural customs and values

Topic and photographs by Shujaat Ali (Shimshal)

We have observed a lot of changes in our culture during the past few years. Some of the customs that have changed include respect to the elders by kissing hand, taking care of younger ones , showing sincerity with fellow human being, greeting people in  a welcomign manner – by bowing or putting hands at chest, helping needy through collective division of labor, hospitality – by inviting peopel inside your home, etc.

In my opinion our customs are symbolic representations of our cultural values. Let us discuss what we have in our culture that others have not and whether we need to make the choice between customs and values?

Protests over death of youth in police custody in Gilgit city

Photos and report by Farman Karim Baig

Gilgit, June 27: Violent protests have erupted in Gilgit after the death of a young person detained by the police, allegedly due to police torture. Hundreds of people started a procession in the morning from Ghari Bagh, came to Hunza chowk, where they burnt tyres and chanted slogans against the administration, the police and the government. Later the procession moved into the NLI market where the protestors smashed windows of shops  expressing their anger and frustration at the death of the youth.

According to reports the police had detained a number of young people as suspects in the murder of Anwar Jan, a government employee murdered recently. One of the detained youth died in police custody due to alleged police torture triggering violent protests in the city.

Gilgit has been tense for  some months because of various fresh acts of sectarian violence and the resultant detentions by the police.  

Kashgar Trade Fair kicking off on 28th June

by Farman Karim Baig

Gilgit, June 25: The Kashghar Trade Fair will be held from 28^th June to 2^nd July 2009. According to reports over one hundred traders from across Gilgit – Baltistan are going to participate in the trade fair by exhibiting and developing market for the local products. 

High officials of the NA administration including chief secretary, MD Natco, deputy director of tourism department, officials of NAGMA (Northern Areas Gems and Minerals Association) and president of the Northern Areas Chamber of Commerce (NACC), Javed Hussain, are reportedly going to participate in the fair, along with traders. 

Accounts officer, Didar, of the NACC, told this correspondent that the chamber saw this fair as a golden opportunity for introduction of the gems and minerals of the region, in the Chinese market.