A day after the killing of 21 Shias by militants, an organisation
representing the people of Gilgit Baltistan has asked the United States
and the United Nations to put pressure on Pakistan to open the trade
routes with Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Laddakh."United Nations and USA are requested to pressure Pakistan to open travel and trade routes towards Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Indian Ladakh so that Shias are not forced to travel on the roads that have become killing fields and virtually
Alleging that Shias and other religious minorities are being
prosecuted in Pakistan, the Gilgit Baltistan National Congress in its
statement demanded that the state department grant a CPC (country of
particular concern) status to Pakistan and impose restrictions on
activities of Pakistani secret service agencies and their militant
allies.
"It is feared that Shia killings will continue until the strategic region of Gilgit Baltistan has a Shia majority population.
"The region connects Pakistan with China and Central Asia and
intelligence agencies see Shia majority as a threat to their control
over this strategic corridor," GBNC alleged.
GBNC alleged that similar attacks by pro-Pak militants on Shia
majority populations in the strategic valley of Parachinar have forced
tens of thousands of Shias to abandon their homes, there by converting
Parachinar into a Sunni region.
"Parachinar provides direct access to Pakistani troops to Ghazni,
Gardez and central Afghanistan. It is feared that similar strategies are
being implemented in Quetta, which neighbors Kandahar and Helmand
provinces of Afghanistan, and where Hazaras make up almost one-third of
capital's population," the statement alleged.
Yesterday, suspected militants have pulled out 25 Shia Muslims from
three buses and shot them dead in northern Pakistan, the third such
sectarian attack in the restive region in six months.
The gunmen stopped the buses in Naran Valley of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
province and asked the people to get out of the vehicles, witnesses told
TV news channels.
The buses were going from the garrison city of Rawalpindi to Astore in Gilgit-Baltistan, which has a sizeable Shia population.