By Tom Hussain
GILGIT, PAKISTAN // Representatives of Pakistan’s tranquil Northern Areas, a tourism centre bordering China, have petitioned the government to revert to the historical name of Gilgit-Baltistan to distinguish it from areas plagued by militant insurgency.
The five districts of the Northern Areas are situated amid the sky-scraping peaks of the Karakorum mountain range that divides the Indian subcontinent from Central Asia.
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There is little appetite for the puritanical version of Islam propagated by the Taliban and its al Qa’eda allies: the population of four districts out of five in Gilgit-Balistan is dominated by the Shiite, Ismaili (followers of the Aga Khan) and Sufi Nurbaskhi sects, according to local journalists.
“My home district of Chilas is the only Sunni area and the people there have taken a collective decision to ensure there is no terrorist infiltration. We have nothing in common with them and want nothing to do with them,” said Farooq Ahmed, a journalist based in Gilgit.
Such strength of feeling about being tarred with the Taliban brush in April prompted the Northern Areas Legislative Council, the region’s elected assembly, to unanimously pass a resolution, calling on the Pakistan government to change the constitution to facilitate the change of name to Gilgit-Baltistan.
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