Zardari, Shehbaz mark G-B's 79th Independence Day with development pledges

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated the people of Gilgit-Baltistan on the region's 79th Independence Day on Sunday, in separate messages that paired tribute to the 1947 movement against Dogra rule with a list of federal projects completed or under way in the region.

A ceremony will be held at the Army Helipad in Gilgit to mark the day, the Express Tribune reported.

Both leaders recalled that in November 1947 the region's freedom movement leaders and its people ended Dogra rule and sent a letter to Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah seeking accession to Pakistan. Zardari, writing on X, said the people "overthrew the colonial yoke of Dogra rule, declared independence and soon after, sent the letter to Quaid-e-Azam for accession to Pakistan" 79 years ago.

"The flame for freedom has never extinguished and their loyalty with Pakistan has never been questioned all those decades and years," he said.

Zardari traced the region's administrative history. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's 1972 reforms abolished the Frontier Crimes Regulation and the Jagirdari system and dismantled the Agency system, he said. In 1974 the remaining princely states, including Hunza and Nagar, were abolished. Benazir Bhutto's 1994 Legal Framework Order set up the Northern Areas Legislative Council, and the 2009 Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order gave the region its present name, a legislative assembly, an elected chief minister and a governor.

He said the region's direct border with China and its natural resources had made its people contributors to "Pakistan's defence and development". He named roads, schools, healthcare, energy and employment as priorities, and said tourism could provide livelihoods while the region's mountains, glaciers and rivers needed protection.

Shehbaz said the federal government remained committed to the region's development and to what he called a bright future for its youth. The 16MW Naltar hydropower project has been completed and a 100MW solar project launched, he said. Solar panels with a combined capacity of 58MW have been distributed through digital balloting, about 100,000 panels so far.

Foundation stones have been laid for four Daanish Schools in Sultanabad, Bunji, Ghanche and Skardu at a cost of Rs12.46 billion, he said. Under the Prime Minister's Laptop Scheme, 4,245 laptops have gone to young people in the region, and students from Gilgit-Baltistan were included in the Chromebook programme.

Approval has been granted to designate Maqpoon Das as a special economic zone over 250 acres, expected to host 155 industrial and commercial enterprises and create about 5,000 jobs, the prime minister said.

The second phase of the Gilgit-Baltistan Safe City Project has been inaugurated and a similar project is being started in Skardu, he said. He paid tribute to the "mujahideen, ghazis and martyrs" of the freedom struggle and cited CPEC in describing the region's trade potential.

"Long live Gilgit-Baltistan! Long live Pakistan!" he concluded.