September 28, 2002	Saturday	Rajab 20, 1423

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SKARDU, Sept 27: Former president of Baltistan Students Federation and other activists have criticized the government for “distorting the history of Gilgit-Baltistan liberation war”.

In a joint statement, the former BSF president, Syed Haider Shah Rizvi, and other activists, including Ali Raza Saqi, Hussain Abid, Fida Hussain Israr and Hussain Agha, termed as fake the documents presented to President Pervez Musharraf by the widow of Maj Brown on Gilgit-Baltistan.

They said the documents provided to the government were part of a conspiracy to divide Gilgit-Baltistan. According to this conspiracy, the areas of Hunza, Nagar, Gilgit, Ghizer and Diamer would be annexed to the NWFP, while the areas of Baltistan, Astor, Ladakh and Kargil be handed over to India.

“The real hero of Gilgit-Baltistan is the late Col Mirza Hasan and not Maj William Alexander Brown as portrayed by the government. The country’s highest civil award should be conferred not on to Maj Brown, but on to Col Hasan. He is the man who deserves it,” they added.

They further stated that by awarding the highest civil award to Maj Brown, the government had humiliated the people of the Gilgit-Baltistan. For this, the government should apologise to the people of Gilgit-Baltistan, otherwise it would prove that the rulers want to keep Gilgit-Baltistan as “a land without a constitution,” and had no interest regarding the area as a part of Pakistan.

They further appealed to the people of Gilgit-Baltistan specially students to maintain unity in their ranks and create awareness about the freedom movement so that they could face the conspiracy regarding any division of Gilgit-Baltistan and distorting the name and history of the area.