GILGIT: Opposition lea­der in Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly Amjad Hussain Advocate has accused GB Chief Minister Khalid Khur­shid of trying to incite GB residents against the state.

Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, Mr Hussain, who is also the president of GB chapter of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), claimed the chief minister had been doing this on the dictate of PTI Chairman Imran Khan.

He said a few ministers were trying to give an impression that ‘anti-Pakistan lava’ was brewing in the region and were promoting false narratives.

The PTI chairman and his “puppet chief minister” want to turn GB into a battleground, the PPP leader remarked.

He also accused CM Khurshid of “hatching conspiracies against the state”.

“Khalid Khurshid himself has announced that he supports the protest in Skardu,” Mr Hussain said, adding the chief minister was creating issues in GB to turn locals against the state.

He said the GB government, and not the Centre, was responsible for prolonged power outages in the region.

He claimed CM Khurshid had signed an agreement with a private company for 15 years to generate electricity, costing billions to the GB government.

Locals will pay an additional Rs20 per unit due to this deal, he feared.

He rejected the chief minister’s allegations that the federal government had cut down the GB’s budget and wheat quota.

He said the federal government had allocated Rs8bn to provide wheat subsidies. However, the GB government failed to provide subsidised wheat to people, the PPP leader added.

He alleged bags of subsidised wheat were being sold in black market under the patronage of the GB food minister.

Talking about land reforms, he said as an opposition leader, he submitted a bill two years ago seeking rights of ownership over common lands.

But the chief minister and the GB assembly speaker didn’t allow tabling of the bill in the house, the PPP leader claimed.

He added the bill had been submitted to the assembly secretariat for approval and it would provide rights of land ownership to local residents.

Locals in Skardu and other areas of GB have been protesting against land re­forms, imposition of taxes, wheat shortage and prolonged blackouts in the region for the past many days.

Region-wide strikes have also been observed while thousands of workers from different political and religious organisations partici­pated in the demonstrations.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2023