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Shias in Pak Northern Areas demand separate state
Pakistani leaders in the Northern Areas (NA), Gilgit-Baltistan region, have raised a banner of revolt against the Pakistani government demanding a separate Bolor state. Describing their demand as "legitimate", the leaders at a seminar "Great Bolor State and Kashmir Issue" said the Gilgit-Baltistan region was being governed by the Kashmir Affairs and NA Ministry based in Islamabad and the elected representatives of the NA Legislative Council did not enjoy the same power as the district assembly despite the entire region being liberated in 1947. The seminar, organised by the Bolor Thinker Forum, was held at the Rawalpindi Press Club in the first week of this month to discuss the NA issue, which is also known as Bolor with reference to the Kashmir issue.The speakers at the seminar, including JKLF chairman Amanullah Khan, APNA chairman Wajahat Hassan Khan, APNA general secretary Sardar Arif Shahid, Bolor Research Forum chairman Amanullah Khan, and Boloristan chairman Nawaz Khan, said the people of Gilgit-Baltistan region were an essential component of the Kashmir issue but were currently being ignored. They said that due to the Kashmir conflict, the region's people were being deprived of their rights, and people from both Kashmir and PoK enjoyed their own legislative, administrative and judicial set-ups. Posted by: Paul Moloney 2005-01-16 |
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