Laspur elders warn Shandur boundary move could cause unrest

Elders and public figures from Laspur valley in Upper Chitral warned on Tuesday that reopening the boundary dispute at Shandur Pass between Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa could create unrest in Upper Chitral and Ghizer, and asked the Gilgit-Baltistan chief minister and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor to obtain the official record before taking further steps.

The warning came in a joint statement by Dr Inayatullah Faizi, Advocate Shahid Ali Khan Yaftali and other elders, The News International reported. It followed a meeting between Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Amjad Hussain and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, according to Chitral Today, at which the demarcation of the boundary at Shandur was reportedly raised. The News said the meeting took place the day before the statement.

The elders said the existing boundary between Ghizer and Laspur lies at Langar, where around 800 households from Laspur are settled and have their places of worship. Chitral Today placed the Langar pasture four kilometres east of Shandur Polo Ground and said Laspur residents hold 800 summer houses on Shandur Top whose property rights have never been questioned.

The elders said Shandur had been part of Chitral since the reign of Somalek in 1240 AD, a name Chitral Today gave as Sumalic, and that the boundary held through the rule of the Rais, Khushwaqt and Katur dynasties. The 1975 Land Commission upheld the existing demarcation, they said, and revenue records list Shandur as part of Chitral.

Chitral Today reported that the question was raised in 1980, when a Frontier Corps Chitral Scouts post was set up on Shandur Top, and that the matter went to a Joint Ministerial Commission of SAFRON and KANA in July 2003, which turned down Gilgit-Baltistan's claim. The outlet said an appeal ended at the Chief Appellate Court in Gilgit with an order to maintain the status quo, and that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was represented there by its additional advocate general. The News reported that attempts to revive the issue between 1980 and 2015, through a joint ministerial commission, a case before the Chief Court of Gilgit and an alleged secret memorandum of understanding, had all failed.

Chitral Today called the dispute a conspiracy and said the issue had been highlighted by what it described as RAW agents on special mission in Gilgit-Baltistan. It also said the Shandur Bashqar Gol Wildlife Conservancy of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa starts at the Langar boundary.

The elders called Langar a symbol of brotherhood between the people of the two areas and said repeated controversy over it would not serve the national interest. They said the people of Laspur would strongly resist any unjustified move, and asked that residents of both Laspur and Ghizer be taken into confidence and any progress be made through mutual consultation.