By Shafqat Ali Inqalabi
Although energy and food crises have taken the World Bank stock exchanges have gone bankrupt. Countries like America have announced there bankruptcy and France, Britain and America along with other developed nations have started collecting funds to over come these financial crises. These days the world is in the grip of energy and water reservoir crises. Sugar producing countries like Brazil have stopped producing sugar from sugar cane and are concentrating on ways to produce electricity from resulting in increase in the prices of sugar world wide.
From 2007 onwards electricity has remained a major problem of Pakistan. in the last term of slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto some multi national companies had invested in the energy sector but today's government due to unavailability of funds the private sector has reduced its energy production due to which the industrial sector has faced immense loss and those relying on industries for there bread are starving to death. On the other hand the daily schedule of load shedding is from 8 to 10 hours. All this is due to the unsuccessful planning that despite investing billions in Kala Bagh dam and making reports still failed.
During the last days of Pervez Musharaf senior officials along with the president contacted NWFP government to make a suitable environment for the construction of Kala Bagh dam but it didn't met any success. Kala Bagh dam has announced times again from Ayub Khan to Musharaf and at the eleventh hour the president came on television and announced construction of Bhasha Dam instead on which ANP along with all nationalist parties of Pakistan celebrated there success but the people in general and nationalist parties of Gilgit Baltistan in particular protested and demonstrated against the announcement. Protest demonstrations were carried out in almost all major metro politeness of Pakistan besides the districts of Gilgit Baltistan and many were arrested. People of the region called upon international community to take notice of and even a committee was formed to take action but all went in vain and Genral Mushraf under tight security carried the inauguration ceremony of the stone foundation laying ceremony.
According to constitution, jobs and royalty will be given to the region where the power generating turbine will be set up. According to survey 110km of Diammer district will completely submerge due to Bhasha dam which includes 36 villages while thousands of people will be displaced and the archeological remnants will be demolished as a result of construction of the dam. The climate of the region too will change resulting in increase in rainfall which will alter geography of the region but the people will get nothing in return.
The dispute of Bhasha dam had somehow stopped after 18 October but after February 18th elections the nationalist party of NWFP formed government both in the centre and NWFP and history says that the politics of ANP has always remained construction of Kala Bagh Dam and persuaded prime minister to announce construction of Kala Bagh dam for ever. To rub salt into the wounds provincial government of NWFP passed a unanimous resolution after which royalty and jobs will be granted to the people of NWFP which strengthened the sense of alienation among the people of Gilgit Baltistan.
people like Haji Qudus and Malik Miskeen for now answer to the questions of there own people as what benefit the region will get from construction of Bhasha Dam and what will president, prime minister and members of ANP get? Just for the sake of pleasing ANP and submerging its own people rulers of the time did not bothered to think about the mass of Gilgit Baltistan while carrying out mega projects in disputed region itself is a crime in accordance with international laws. According to sources World Bank has excused funding of the dam and the government is trying to persuade china to fund construction of the dam. Pakistani rulers for now should realize that they have already put them self in a difficult situation by caring the Gawadar project and construction of dam in disputed region will add to the difficulties of it.
I want to make it clear to the rulers that if they really want to come out of the energy crises they should built dams in there own territory and start construction of Kala Bagh dam immediately for which world bank and other international financial institutions are ready to invest.
If Asfand Yar Wali succeeds in stopping the government from construction of Kala Bagh dam the local political leadership of Gilgit Baltistan too should try to persuade the government to stop construction of Bhasha Dam. All nationalist and political parties of Gilgit Baltistan should call an all parties conference to devise a common way to stop construction of Diamer Bhasha Dam and inform international community and institutions as IMF, World Bank and United Nations regarding the dispute. they should try there last effort to stop construction of dam otherwise the coming generations wont forgive them and ANP too should not take upon right of other small nations as it calls itself a nationalist party.
Note.
The above article was published in weekly bang e sahar karachi
No comments :
Post a Comment