February 1, 2006	Wednesday	Muharram 2, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Jan 31: The Gilgit-Baltistan Students Forum has rejected the construction of Bhasha dam terming it a violation of basic rights of the local people.

Speaking at a press conference, office-bearers of the forum led by its chairman Nazir Ahmad Advocate said their area was still a disputed territory and the issue should be resolved before launching of the mega project.

They said according to the UN Security Council resolution passed in 1948 — to which Pakistan was a signatory — Gilgit- Baltistan is a disputed territory and the government of Pakistan has no right to build such a huge dam there.

Besides, the government has no right to build a dam without taking the local population into confidence, they added.

“President Gen Pervez Musharraf has used the construction of Bhasha dam as a face-saving tactic, because his government failed to develop a consensus on the Kalabagh dam,” they said.

They referred to the seven-region formula of President Musharraf for the resolution of the Kashmir issue and maintained that the president himself had acknowledged the disputed status of Gilgit-Baltistan.

Moreover, a number of cases decided by various courts including the Supreme Court of Pakistan have underlined that the status of the areas was still disputed.

“We want to convey our message to the authorities concerned that by no means the people of Gilgit-Baltistan will allow the construction of the dam,” they said.

In response to a question, they said until the government decided their future they were not even ready to talk on the subject of the dam.

“If the people of Sindh and NWFP can reject the construction of the Kalabagh dam saying that it was not in their interest, the people of Gilgit and Baltistan can also do the same,” they added.

Successive governments for the last 58 years have betrayed the people of Baltistan and it was hard to believe the words of President Musharraf that the dam would benefit the local people.

They claimed that Chitral and Kohistan in the NWFP were also part of Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan got separated these territories from the Northern Areas through a conspiracy.