Chapter 3 continues…

Imam Aga Syed Ziauddin Rizvi, the local Shia cleric, helped the authorities in trying to resolve the issue to the satisfaction of Shias. However, the issue was so emotive that all schools in Northern Areas remained closed for one full year till April 2005 and could only be reopened after controversial portions were removed to the satisfaction of all sects.

The Northern Areas constitute the most backward areas in the entire South Asia and the region seems to have missed the development bus completely. The literacy rates in the region are at 14 per cent far below Pakistan’s national average of 31 per cent and the literacy rate of women is abysmally low at 3.5 per cent. There is one doctor for every 6,000 people and one hospital bed for 1,500 people. Less than 10 per cent of the hydroelectric potential of the region has been tapped for local use.

This especially is ironic as Pakistan intends to build mega dams at Skardu and Bhasha which will inundate millions of acres of populated fertile lands to provide cheap electricity to rest of Pakistan. Unfortunately, Bhasha Dam has been so planned that the royalty from the Dam will go to NWFP as Article 161(2) of the Pakistani Constitution stipulates that the royalty and the bulk of the net profits earned from a hydroelectric station shall go to the province where the station is situated.

The Bhasha Village, which will house only one per cent of the dam, is shown to be in the NWFP; hence earnings from the dam will likely go to the NWFP even though the dam would inundate 32 villages of Diamer District of Northern Areas, with a combined population of 26,000, and thousands of kanals of agricultural land.

The Northern Area has no university and no professional colleges. It has only 12 high schools and two regional colleges with no post graduate facilities. Lack of education has practically closed all avenues of government jobs, thus negating their changes for upliftment.

To be continued…