ISLAMABAD: Though the delegation of Pakistan in recently held Geneva donors’ conference included representatives of all provinces but no one from Gilgit Baltistan had attended the event for, what Chief Minister GB Muhammad Khalid Khurshid claimed, was a deliberate attempt of the center to sidelining the regional government.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Thursday, the chief minister revealed that Federal Minister of Planning Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal, during an earlier briefing, had asked officials from GB to remain silent in Geneva.
“My secretary was instructed that he will neither give any briefing nor take the name of Gilgit Baltistan in the Geneva conference,” the chief minister claimed, adding that no reason was given regarding keeping GB absent from the entire tour and presentation in the conference.
“I could not understand the rationale and reason behind this move. This is why, while keeping the attitude of the center in view, I instructed the secretaries to avoid becoming part of the Geneva delegation,” he further revealed.
According to him, despite being the most affected mountainous region in the country by climate change, not a single project of GB was included in the flood rehabilitation plan for which the international lenders have pledged around $ 10 billion soft loan.
Khalid Khurshid, who was also accompanied by former provincial minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Taimur Saleem Jhagra and PTI leader Muzamil Aslam, said that the federal government has not released even one rupee extra for Gilgit-Baltistan. The regional government, he said, should have received Rs 22 to 23 billion in the form of ADP, but the federal government has kept the ADP to just Rs 18 billion.
He claimed that the government of 13 political parties has cut not only development but also the non development budget of GB. It has also cut the wheat subsidy despite increasing demand as per growth in population in the area.
He also claimed that various cities and villages of GB were braving 22 hours of electricity load shedding despite the temperature falling below 14 degrees.
As thousands have protested against the load shedding recently, the regional government may not be able to manage the situation if the center did not realize the ground realities, he added.
“Unfortunately when people come on street in such a large number, the enemies of Pakistan portray the protest gatherings as against the state,” he added.
According to him the main task of the political leadership is to control the chaos, but the PDM led federal government is selectively discriminating against Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir and KP.
