ISLAMABAD: Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Home Minister Shams Lone on Tuesday warned miscreants from creating a law-and-order situation in the region after last week's reports suggested there was unrest and sectarian tensions in Pakistan's mountainous north.
Last week, reports on social media suggested sectarian tensions were on the rise in GB following controversial speeches by Sunni and Shia clerics and their registration of police complaints against each other. The reports suggested that the GB administration had requested for army’s deployment to quell the protests, but the administration said on Saturday it had requisitioned troops only to maintain order during Chehlum of Imam Hussain (RA) scheduled to be observed this week, which marks 40 days since the day of his martyrdom on the 10th of Muharram.
Pakistan's Caretaker Information Minister Murtaza Solangi on Sunday denied reports that there was unrest in the region, describing GB as a "heaven of peace" and that reports of violence in the area were "baseless."
"The minister said there is peace all over Gilgit-Baltistan region now but warned the elements to desist from creating any law-and-order situation," the state-run Radio Pakistan said in a report.
Lone blamed the Indian media and its propaganda for misrepresenting the situation in GB, Radio Pakistan said, adding that the minister urged Pakistani scholars to preach Islamic teachings of love, brotherhood and peace in the region.
"He said peace can only be maintained if we respect each other's beliefs and faiths, which will ultimately help realize the dream of development in the region," the report said.
In a clarification post on the social media platform X last week, Solangi said schools, colleges, markets and roads were open in the region, displaying a sense of normalcy. He, however, admitted that "peaceful protests do occur at times in reaction to some religious and sectarian concerns" before reiterating that the situation in the area was calm.
