June 27, 2006	Tuesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 30, 1427

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SKARDU, June 26: Refugees displaced during Pakistan-India wars in Siachen and Kargil sectors in Baltistan have called for opening of the Skardu-Kargil and Khaplu-Ladakh roads to reunite the divided families on both sides of the Line of Control.

In a statement issued here, ex-armymen Ghulam Qadir and Sher Ali, Mohammad Khan and other representatives of the refugees said the governments of Pakistan and India had opened various routes across the LoC in Azad Kashmir but the divided families of Siachen and Kargil were deprived of the facility.

They urged President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to give divided families of Shyoke, Siachen and Kargil a chance to reunite by opening the Skardu-Kargil and Khaplu-Ladakh roads.

COMPENSATION: Various religious, political and social organisations have demanded payment of compensation to people affected by the Jan 8, 2005, sectarian violence.

The Skardu municipal committee, the district bar council, Tanzim Ahl-i-Sunnat, Tanzim Ahl-i-Hadith, Tanzim Noorbakshia, Tanzim Isna Ashria and Tanzim Ismailia Baltistan, in their statements, expressed concern over delay in payment of compensation.

They said the government immediately paid compensation in case of damage in riots in other parts of the country.

They said the district administration had sent several letters to the higher authorities in this regard but to no avail.

They urged President Musharraf, Prime Minister Aziz and Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas Minister Tahir Iqbal to order the authorities concerned to pay compensation to the affected people of Gilgit and Baltistan.