ISLAMABAD, April 14: The 14-parties Gilgit-Baltistan National Alliance has called upon the federal government to extend an AJK government type of structure to the Northern Areas.

It also said the NAs should be represented in the Azad Kashmir Council on the basis of equity and equality.

The heads of the major components parties of the alliance told Dawn that time had come when the grievances of the people of the area should be removed by the political government in Islamabad.

“In order to end our sense of deprivation we must be represented in the AJK Council,” said Inayat Ullah Khan Shimali, Chairman of the alliance.

Northern Areas, he pointed out, was part of the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir. “The status of the area cannot be altered in view of the UN resolutions and till the final settlement of the Kashmir dispute.