GILGIT, Feb 1: Over 20,000 protesters blocked the Karakoram Highway for five hours on Wednesday in Diamer district, 122kms south of Gilgit, against proposed construction of the Bhasha dam.

They held processions and rallied all over the district —in Gonar Farm, Chilas, Thore, Darel and Tangeer valleys where the government has decided to build a reservoir at a cost of $6.545 billion near the border of NWFP and Northern Areas.

Addressing a rally in Chilas, local leaders condemned the decision to build the Bhasha dam which would displace 30,000 people and inundate 31,580 acres of barren and 1,600 acres of arable land in Diamer district.

The protesters, spread from Goherbabd to Thore, held banners and placards against the Bhasha dam and called upon President Pervez Musharraf to withdraw what they termed an injudicious and illogical decision. Member of the Northern Areas Legislative Council from Diamer, Advocate Fidaullah, said that they were opposed to the Basha dam which was a conspiracy to destroy their area. He said they had liberated this region without any outside help and they would not let others impose decisions or negotiate their rights over vital issues.

The ruling PML’s provincial chief organizer Basheer Ahmed Khan said that the region had been deprived of its constitutional rights for 58 years and they would not tolerate any further deprivation in the name of dam. They said the dam would destroy their culture and lands.

Another NALC member from Diamer, Haji Abdul Quddus, regretted the role of the NWFP government which, he said, had misguided the people on the Bhasha dam issue. He called upon President Musharraf to assess ground realities.

Former NALC member from Diamer Haji Ameer Jan said that the centre was imposing its decisions on Gilgit and Baltistan against the will of local people who did not have representation in Senate and National Assembly.

Chairman Anti-Basha Dam Movement Maulana Muhammad Sadiq moved a three-point resolution which was adopted by the audience. The resolution rejected the Bhasha dam and appealed to the president and the prime minister to withdraw the decision. The resolution said that the people of Northern Areas would never accept dams in any part of Gilgit-Baltistan.

Earlier over 5000 protesters staged a sit-in in Thore on the KKH where they burnt tyres and blocked the highway. They asked Wapda engineers and staff to immediately stop work on the site.