A change in the corridors of power in Islamabad is something that the deprived people of Gilgit-Baltistan dread. This is so because the resultant politics of witch-hunting negatively impact their already very difficult existence. Recently, wheat subsidy to Gilgit-Baltistan was withdrawn by the Nawaz Sharif led government, mainly out of pique, because the provincial government of Gilgit-Baltistan is of the opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). That the people would face immense hardship is something that the present government has not considered at all!

This sadistic move by the government may well turn out to be a boon for the people since it brought in its wake a resistance movement of unprecedented proportions in the region that has been suppressed and subjugated for the last six plus decades. The Awami Action Committee (AAC); a recently constituted coalition of 20 odd political parties and religious groups took the initiative to spearhead the protest from April, 15, 2014 onwards.

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