GILGIT, Jan 17: Various political parties at a meeting the other day paid tribute to the martyrs of the first democratic struggle waged against the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) in Gilgit and Baltistan on Jan 11, 1971.

The meeting was held here to commemorate the struggle of the people of Gilgit and Baltistan in which during a police crackdown hundreds of protesters were imprisoned and one was killed.

Representatives of various political parties, including the Gilgit-Baltistan Labour Party (GBLP) and the Karakoram National Front (KNF), said Gilgit and Baltistan were being ruled under a neo-colonial system and the laws in the region were more draconian and brutal than those of the defunct FCR.

They said there was a complete ban on political activities in Gilgit and Baltistan, and demanded that a legislative body be set up to empower public representatives to manage their own matters.

They criticized the Northern Areas Legislative Council (NALC), saying that the so-called body was too powerless to decide important matters with regard to the region. They alleged that the NALC was acting at the behest of the Islamabad-based bureaucracy.

They demanded that the NALC be abolished and its members be stopped from getting monthly salaries from the region’s development funds.

The politicians also demanded that UN resolutions with regards to Gilgit and Baltistan be implemented.

Those who spoke at the meeting included GBLP Chairman Ehsan Ali advocate, KNF Chairman Muhammad Iqbal advocate and BNF Chairman Nawaz Khan Naji.