Pushing poverty stricken people to the wall

The recent rains and floods have devastated the economy and infrastructure of Gilgit-Baltistan putting far-reaching negative impacts on the socio-economic conditions of the people. The worst affected of all the districts of the region was Ghizer where agriculture, the only source of income for the people, has seen unimaginable losses with the government failing to come to the rescue of the lifeline even after a couple of months after the calamity. The floods not only damaged hundreds of houses in the district but also washed away standing crops, fruit trees, roads, and thousands of cattle heads. If it was not enough, the remaining crops were destroyed in the aftermath of the floods due to unavailability of water as all water channels were washed away and there was no help forthcoming to repair them. At the moment, the people of the region are living under the dark clouds of uncertainty as the winter season knocks at their door and they have nothing in store to live on during the harsh days to come.It is unfortunate that despite presence in the area of the agriculture bank and the agriculture department, people of the region have not been provided any support so that they can be able to stand on their own feet. These two departments like other public sector organizations are riddled with corruption and there is no accountability to put them on the right track. Instead of working for the betterment of the agriculture sector in the region, the officials of the department have been found involved in corrupt practices. People of the region have expressed the fear that if the government failed to bring reforms in its department and take measures for development of the sector, not only Ghizer but also the whole Gilgit-Baltistan would face a severe food crisis in the near future. We have seen that the Mehdi Shah government is in slumber and has no plan to develop the sector or improve the lives of the people who are mostly depended on the sector for their livelihoods. The agriculture bank, which was set up to promote the sector and facilitate the small farmers by providing them loans, has become a political tool in the region. It has been observed that loans are provided on the basis of sectarian and political affiliations and there are no rules and regulations for those having right connections while poor farmers are refused the facility on lame excuses. During the last three years or so, no measures have been taken to ascertain what criteria the bank had adopted for giving loans. There has also not been any audit or accountability for the performance and working of the bank during the period. It is reported that during the last general elections in Gilgit-Baltistan, politically influential people were dished out huge loans from the bank's Gahkuch branch which have not been repaid. As a result, this branch has reached at the brink of default. On the other hand, farmers who had taken small loans are never spared by the bank officials. These farmers are now unable to repay the loans as they have lost everything during the recent rains and floods.Former President Pervez Musharraf had waived small loans of the farmers in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral and keeping the situation in view after the recent calamity the present government should also waive the agricultural loans in the region. Though the agriculture bank has always been claiming that it is providing loans to the farmers irrespective of their political, regional and sectarian affiliations but ground realities have always belied the claim.It is difficult to comprehend why the government of Pakistan has been meting out discriminatory treatment to the people of Gilgit-Baltistan. Even a man in the street understands that the region has been kept deprived of all its rights for the last over six decades. The area is also without a constitution and hordes of security forces personnel have been deployed in all corners of the region which according to the UN is a disputed land and its status has to be resolved under the resolutions of the world body. Islamabad knows it very well that it cannot make Gilgit-Baltistan its integral part by force but has been following a policy to convert the local people of the region into a minority in their own land by settling outsiders in their area. For this reason, the rulers of Pakistan have abolished the state subject rule and created such conditions that force the local people to migrate out in search of basic necessities of life. Besides, the region ahs been pushed into the fire of sectarian violence to divide the locals on sectarian lines so that they can never rise against the rulers in support of their genuine rights.But Islamabad should not forget the fact that about 40 years back it has meted out the dame inhuman treatment to the people of then East Pakistan due to which Pakistan broke into two and the Bangladeshis created their own country. That country is now becoming a model state in terms of economic and social sector development according to the reports of international agencies like the World Bank.At the moment the situation in GB is such that on the one hand floods have devastated all sectors and on the other the Mehdi Shah government is out to snatch even the bread from the mouth of the poor people. When the fraud package was introduced last year, saner elements in the region had expressed the reservation that it was yet another ploy to perpetuate the rule of Islamabad in the region and plunder the resources and bringing the residents under the tax net for the financial benefit of rulers in Islamabad but the PPP supporters rejected the reservations at that time.For the last many days, a campaign ahs been launched to catch all non-customs paid vehicles so that the cash collected for their registration can be transferred to Islamabad for the luxuries of the rulers. Our policy on NCP vehicles is clear. There are thousands of people who depend on these vehicles for their livelihood. If the govt considers these vehicles illegal, it has to tell the nation who was responsible for introducing these illegal vehicles into the region in the first place? As Gilgit-Baltistan is not a legal territory of Pakistan, Islamabad has no right to take action against these vehicle owners or impose tax on the residents under any pretext. We demand that the vehicles should be returned to the owners as it has created more restlessness in the region.

(www.bangesahar.com)