Re: 10 tourists assassinated in Fairy Meadows (Gilgit)
Interesting information about Gilgit Baltistan and its sectarian issues.
The first serious sectarian violence in Gilgit broke out in 1983. In 1988, a rumor alleging a Sunni massacre at the hands of Shias resulted in an attack by thousands of armed tribesmen from the south, the killing of nearly four hundred Shias, and the burning of several Shia villages.
• In 2012, sectarian violence surged again, triggered by a quick succession of well-organized killings targeting Shia travelers on the two routes that connect Gilgit-Baltistan with Islamabad but including others. As many as sixty have been killed. The ensuing retaliatory killings in Gilgit town and suburbs, by armed militants on both sides, have added to the carnage and fear.
• A peaceful Gilgit-Baltistan is essential for regional stability and development.
• One possible way forward to reduce the conflict and counter growing militancy in the wider region is to strengthen governance systems and processes to establish inclusive policies for equitable development and redress long-held grievances.
Situated in the mountains of northern Pakistan, Gilgit-Baltistan covers 72,971 square kilometers. Its estimated population of 1.2 million includes four denominations of Islam—Shiite (39 percent),2 Sunni (27 percent), Ismaili (18 percent), and Noorbakshi (16 percent)—and at least twenty-four ethnic and linguistic groups.
On February 28, 2012, eighteen Shia pilgrims were openly killed on the Karakoram Highway in Kohistan district while returning from Iran. Another attack killed twenty people at Chilas on April 3. Yet another—again targeting Shia but also four Sunni who protested—killed twenty-two near Babusar Pass on August 16. These events have jolted the communities in Gilgit-Baltistan, which have collectively condemned such killings and demanded decisive action from the government.
The brutality and impunity with which these crimes were committed have triggered wider sectarian tensions and hardened attitudes in Gilgit-Baltistan. The situation is tense, especially in Gilgit town, the main city in the province, where the violence and mutual insecurity has deepened sectarian fault lines. Gilgit town is now literally divided into “no-go” areas for the main Shia and Sunni communities, forcing people to use separate transportation, schools, and hospitals.