Mehdi Shah and peace cannot go together

The latest bloodbath that visited Gilgit-Baltistan was not only

brutal, unfortunate and condemnable but also showed more ominous

tidings for the region. After this mayhem, if someone hopes that there

would be peace once again in the region he must be bereft of sanity.

Besides our inefficient and cruel political leaders, we the people of

the region are also responsible for the sorry state of affairs which

we see today. It seems that the inhabitants of Gilgit-Baltistan need

no enemy as they are bloodthirsty for each other and easily fulfilling

what their enemies would like to happen in the region. The question

that foreign hands are involved in spoiling peace of the region is

becoming irrelevant and if someone still believes in this claim he

must be either living in his own world or trying to hoodwink the

masses. Now it has become crystal clear that whatever is happening in

the region is locally grown and is done by the dwellers of the region

themselves. All the terror elements and miscreants are local youth and

they have no dearth of arms and ammunition and resources. They do not

need millions to arm themselves with weapons as stock is available in

each house and back-up is arranged at the spur of the moment. More

horribly, the terror brigades are at the beck and call of the

particular communities who send them out to streets and other places

to fulfil given tasks and come back to safety. And the way the youths

have been brainwashed further makes it easy for the gun wielders to go

berserk without any fear and remorse, making the situation more

precarious and uncertain to say the least. The current horrible

situation in Gilgit is the product of the over 30 years of hatred,

schism, divisions and gulf which we created among ourselves without

any reason or justification. The incidents of 2005 and Kohistan

killings put the area in a blind alley from where there is no hope of

return. Besides, Shia-Sunni killings in other parts of the country

also put its impact on Gilgit-Baltistan’s situation. As a result,

today the small city of Gilgit is full of hatred and its citizens are

terrorized.

Had there been some sensible leadership in the region, who the masses

could trust, the situation would not have reached such an impasse. Now

the fate of the nation seems to be at the hands of Agha Rahat and Qazi

Nisar who are surrounded by extremists and the two are not forthcoming

with rational approach to resolve the crises. When one side gives a

call of strike the other side comes with a tit for tat and nobody

knows when the vicious cycle will come to an end.

It is our misfortune that at this critical juncture when we need

quality leadership to sail through the crises facing the nation we are

being ruled by corrupt, coward, powerless and incompetent people like

Mehdi Shah and his cohorts. The chief minister is least concerned with

the law and order situation in the region and with the rampant

killings of innocent people here. At a time when Gilgit-Baltistan was

burning in sectarian fire, the chief minister reached Naudero only to

please his master Asif Ali Zardari and pay tribute to Zulfikar Ali

Bhutto. Can anyone think of the chief executive of a province who runs

to flutter others just to save his chair leaving his own people die of

bullets for no cause? The main problem with this chief minister is

that he is totally bereft of courage, political maturity and acumen.

For the last over two and half years he has only bragging and boasting

but utterly failed to deliver. Since he came to power, the region has

seen turmoil but he never tires of claiming that Gilgit-Baltistan is

still a peaceful abode and there are no issues at all. Most of the

time the chief minister remains encamped in Islamabad and his

remaining days are spent at his hometown of Skardu. This shows that

Mehdi Shah gives an impression to the masses that he has nothing to do

with their suffering even if they are being killed and neither should

they expect anything from him. Due to this, it is need of the hour

that he should resign from the post otherwise each and every city and

town of the region would face the fate of the Gilgit city. The region

needs brave, courageous and a dynamic leader and Mehdi Shah lacks all

these qualities.

It is also time that the elected representatives should realized the

reality of the situation and get out of party affiliation and selected

among themselves a capable leader to heal the government and steer out

the nation from the grave situation.

They should realize that our region is at the risk of fast drifting

into a situation of no return and if they want to save the region

Mehdi Shah should have to go. At this juncture, everyone irrespective

of his political and sectarian affiliations is disappointed and fed up

with the performance and working of the chief minister. Besides Mehdi

Shah, all the secret agencies who have been igniting the fire of

sectarianism and hatred in the region are responsible for the current

situation in the region.

We should also understand that this is a time of taking prompt and

timely action not of compromises. If we take right decisions at the

right time it can bring a turnaround that can affect even the coming

generation. If Mehdi Shah remained in power, it is feared that there

would remain no one even to pick the dead bodies of innocent people in

the region.

The contributor is chief editor of www.bangesahar.com