Fresh anti-Pak protests held to demand rollback of provincial status to occupied Gilgit Baltistan

This group of men in front of a local press club in occupied Gilgit Baltistan has gathered here to demand rights and freedoms. And not just their rights but of two million people of Gilgit Baltistan who have either been subjugated directly by Islamabad or its local stooges for the past seven decades. They want Islamabad to pull back both the legislative act and their intention of converting Gilgit Baltistan into a province of Pakistan. A few weeks ago, the GB assembly, which is now dominated by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party PTI, had unanimously passed a resolution changing the status of the occupied territory to incorporate the region with the rest of Pakistan. The arbitrary move has not gone down well with the locals. They, however, say they know why such alacrity was shown to pass the bill. An obstruction free gateway to CPEC and to further control the civil rights of people was the agenda being accomplished.