Protests Intensify Against Pak Army in PoK’s Gilgit-Baltistan Over Land Grabbing, Heavy Taxes
News 18Locals in Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir have intensified protests over land grabbing by the Pakistan Army as well as for reduction in power prices and abolition of heavy taxes. The protesters have been in action for nine days but the situation turned tense after they blocked a road using electricity pylons and boulders, and stopped administration officials and their machinery’s movement. Pakistan’s powerful military establishment continues to exert coercive claims over the land and resources of poor regions of Gilgit-Baltistan. The protesters have alleged that the administration is snatching their land by declaring them ‘Khalsa Sarkar’, a phrase used to identify lands that the government says belongs to Pakistan through its puppet government in Gilgit-Baltistan.