BSF camp attack: Terror is Pakistan's policy, says Gilgit leader

One of Gilgit Baltistan's most influential leaders, who lives in exile in Brussels, Belgium, Abdul Hamid Khan, said Tuesday that the terror strike on a Indian Border Security Force camp near Srinagar Airport early this morning has categorically confirmed that Pakistan is using terror as an instrument to not only create instability in neighboring India, but also to subjugate the people of Gilgit-Baltistan who want nothing less than freedom.

"Pakistan wants to intentionally change its demography by providing shelter to terrorists. It is also known to be providing weapons to them. The indigenous people of Gilgit Baltistan have no right to keep arms. And, if they are found carrying any weapon, they are put behind bars under the Terrorist Act. Pakistani citizens on the other hand are allowed to possess any kind of weapon. If any issue erupts, Pakistani citizens, who are working as ISI agents, can commit genocide on the people of Gilgit Baltistan. Our indigenous people are in danger", claimed Khan.

He squarely blamed Islamabad for using terrorists to create a divide among the people in the name of religion and sect.

He said, "After 1998, General Zia used the Mujahideen, the so-called terrorists which are today referred to as IS and Taliban, to attack the indigenous people of Gilgit Baltistan. They were mostly Shias. Many people were killed, women were kidnapped and their mosques along with holy Quran were burnt. Till today, the displaced people cannot return to their homes. No justice has been done and nobody has been arrested or put under trial for those killings".

"Sectarian killing is not indigenous; the Shias have good relations with Sunnis. Sunnis have good relations with the Ismailia. We are a common people, but Pakistan's ISI is behind dividing the people and killing the religious leaders of Gilgit Baltistan", added Khan.

Khan, who is heading the Balawaristan National Front, a political party based in Gilgit Baltistan, claimed that none of the people in the region are happy to live under Pakistan's control.

"If our people will be given a free voice without interference of Pakistan, then you will realize that the people are with Pakistan or not. Today, nobody is happy with Pakistani behavior. Pakistan has kept the people under its worst tyranny. Nobody support Pakistani rule of law in that area," said Khan.

Spread in an area of over 28,000 square miles, Gilgit Baltistan was part of princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. It remains under Pakistani occupation since 1948.

Bordering Afghanistan and China, Gilgit Baltistan is a strategically important region.