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The readership at this blog inspired us to take our level of content presentation to a step further. We have moved from this place to an another platform. Sadly we hardly were entitled to the tenacity before which is sought by the modern e-reader.

Dynamically publishing the content, engaging users, integrating the social networking plug-ins, aggregating feeds,  using the state of the art multimedia tools, better content management system; all these were the thoughts that made us migrate from the wordpress blog.

However, the powerful SEO capabilities have always impressed us at wordpress blogging which we will miss always.

Our new platform, www.dardistantimes.com is a state of the art content management spot which is easy to use, SEO oriented and user friendly. Multimedia tools like pictures, videos, mp3s are accessible and publishing is a few-clicks process.

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Only the power user will be able to change the way the content is presented. However, we always seek feedback and input to further enrich the readership experience at the Dardistan Times.

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Team The Dardistan Times

Heavy Snow fall in Yasin Valley

Yasin Valley is hit by heavy snow fall for the last few days. As most of the regions in Gilgit Baltistan along the Himalyan belt are snow-blanked this Winter, Yasin Valley stands almost on the top. For the last few days,  the weather here is frigid and snow-packed. Those who live in the far-flung regions like Darhkoot, Nazbar, Thoi and Qorqolti are facing a challenging situation. The primary roads are dangerously packed with snow making the regions cut off from the major towns. Continuation of the snow here in the coming days would prompt fear among the masses of food and fuel shortage. Some areas would be endangered by the blizzards and Avanlanchis.  The ongoing claims by the world community, that the Himalayan Glaciers would come to an end by 2035, appears a myth in such cold weather and heavy snow fall in recent years. Remember, the UN Climate Chnage Panel, IPPC in it’s assessment in 2007 had claimed that the Himalya could lose it’s Glaciers by 2035. Critics already have termed the report faulty. Himalyan Glaciers feed all the major rivers across south Asia.

Pakistan Army runs Army Public School in Hundur Yasin

By Naveed Hussain, Yasin Valley: In the honour of the bravery of Lalak Jan Shaheeed (Nishan-e-Haider) in the Kargil episode,the then government had promised to establish Army Public school in Hundur Yasin.After a decade,at last this very promise became a reality and Army personnel started Primary classes in a government building.
Its worth mentioning here that,although many schools have been established in Yasin region but due to negligence of concerned high authorities and representatives,the prolonged dream of quality education could not become a reality.

It is expected that this new establishment  will prop up the stooping standards of  basic education with adequate resources, both human and material.

Learning centres to be set up in Gilgit and Hunza

ISLAMABAD: Microsoft and the Aga Khan Foundation have inked an agreement to establish the country’s first Community Technology Learning Centres in the remote northern areas of Gilgit and Hunza. According to a press statement, by expanding ICT access and training resources to these rural areas, these centres will offer local residents new social and economic opportunities. Based on the Microsoft Unlimited Potential Community Technology Skills Programme, the centres in Gilgit and Hunza will help promote workforce development through training in basic computer literacy and the use of advanced business productivity applications. Microsoft supports these centres through various contributions, including software, curriculum and technical expertise with a focus on non-profit centres that make IT skills training a priority, enable community members to share learning experience and are open and accessible to the public. ( Courtesy of The News International)

Over 40,000 people in Yarkhun valley of Chitral stranded

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government’s failure to reconstruct a bridge in a far-off valley of Chitral has left its over 40,000 residents stranded for the fourth consecutive summer this year.

The bridge on the Yarkhun river near Khotanlasht was constructed in 1988 but it collapsed in August 2006 due to lack of maintenance cutting off the over 100-km-long valley of over 50 scattered villages stretching up to the Boroghil Pass bordering the Wakhan corridor of Afghanistan.

As a result, the area has been facing a crisis-like situation in the absence of supplies of essential commodities and basic healthcare facilities. Ironically, there is even no basic healthcare centre in the entire valley and a dispensary set up in the Dizg village was also closed down a few years ago. The worse affected are patients needing emergency medical treatment including aged people, women and children. Besides, due to absence of transport, people have to travel on foot from the destroyed bridge to reach their villages and vice versa.

Hundreds of students including girls from the four villages near the collapsed bridge have to attend their schools situated in Brep village across the river. When the bridge collapsed, they remained out of school for three months till a pedestrian bridge was set up at the site. Crossing the dangling and quite long suspension bridge is like playing with one’s life. Early in the morning and in the afternoon, crowds of students can be seen on the bank of the river waiting for their turn to cross the bridge one by one, as the bridge is also used by other people and for shifting of luggage, etc. The residents said they had been going through mental distress and were also concerned about the safety of their children. One person has already lost his life while crossing the river.

Though the reconstruction of the bridge could take hardly one or two months, too many political stakeholders have complicated the matter to achieve their own vested interest making the residents suffer. As the area is far off and has no communication links, the affected people’s pleas after pleas for resolution of the problem have fell on deaf ears despite the fact that their political representatives had made promises to reconstruct the bridge on many occasions.

During the last about three years, every political party hoodwinked the people and sent contractors to the site who carried out some groundwork that too by fits and starts and then disappeared. So far, work on the project has been started and closed for fourth time but there is no hope that the work presently going on at a snail’s pace at the site would be completed any time soon.

When the bridge was washed away, the then provincial government of the MMA deliberately put the project into the cold storage and did not release the required funds on time. However, MMA’s successors in the province turned out to be more callous and did the same with the project. In the 2008 elections, the PML-Q candidates Shahzada Mohiuddin and Ghulam Mohammad returned to the National and the provincial assemblies mainly through the votes of the Yarkhun valley after promising to reconstruct the bridge as a priority project. But after reaching the assemblies, these two leaders have also been buying time on one pretext or the other. Instead of ensuring the reconstruction of the bridge, the MPA made it a publicity opportunity and proudly opened a plaque in his name on April 21, 2008, declaring that work on reconstruction of the bridge has been started. Had there been political will to resolve the public issue, the bridge would have so far been reconstructed, regretted the residents.

Subidar Wazir Bakht Shaheed was burried in Thoi,Yasin

Subidar Wazir Bakth was buried with honer and respect in Thoi who was martyred in the ongoing controversial military operation in North West Frontier Province of Pakistan.  The deceased was awarded with a military medal in yet another controversial and misterious operation in Kargil. Subidar Wazir Bakth was a brave and courageous soldier who left his only son and four daughters behind him. Media sources from Gilgit Baltistan mostly government egged, reported earlier that his son, Aslam Shah who is just in his teenage is determined to join the same path and give his life. Dardistan Times gives tribute to the beloved citizen of Yasin Valley, Sub. Wazir Bakth but strongly condenms such media coverages which emotionalize  the innocent kids of Yasin Valley and prepare them only to fight. It is rare that a kid in Islamabad expresses his ambition as to be a soldier and die but 90% of teenage innocently would be propagated to die in Military Service here in Yasin Valley.  No media coverage to the orphans, widows and parents who keep sheding  tears upon the lose of their dears in Kargil, Siachin, Wanna or Dara Adem Kheil.  Passing through KKH, you will see the Phathans and Punjabis hapily playing games at Baloch Center and Frontier Force Center at  Abbottabad but why the soldiers from Gilgit Baltistan are dying in so called Operation Mizan or Operation Rahe Rast, in bulk is still unfolding.

PM directs immediate release of funds for Gilgit-Baltistan

ISLAMABAD, May 14 (APP): Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani Thursday directed the Ministry of Finance to release development and compensation funds allocated for the Northern Areas with immediate ffect. Talking to a delegation of Northern Areas comprising members of Northern Areas Legislative Assembly and notables led by Speaker NALA at the PM House, the prime minister also ordered to expedite construction of Gilgit-Baltistan road. The delegation also apprised him on various administrative, political and development issues of the area. The Prime Minister directed the Ministry of Kashmir and Northern Areas (KANA) to present these issues in the Committee on Northern Areas Governance Regulations. He said the final summary in this regard should be put up before the cabinet for approval. The delegation included besides Malik M Maskin and MNA Marvi Memon, Advisor Finance Mirza Hussain, Advisor Education Noorul Aain, Advisor Tourism Abdul Hameed, Advisor Health Abdul Qudoos, Advisor Works Ibrahim Sinali, PML Muzaffar Relay and MLA Muhammad Aslam.

Courtesy of Associated Press of Pakistan

Eco-Tourism in Khunjirab, Cooperation between China and Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and China will enhance cooperation to devise a clean development mechanism and establish protected areas in Khunjerab National Park (KNP) in Pakistan and Taxkorgan Nature Reserve (TNR) in China. This was decided in a meeting between Environment Minister Hameedullah Jan Afridi and Chinese Ambassador Luo Zhaohui on Monday. Jan Afridi said Pakistan and China were close friends and had cordial ties in the economy and defence but more areas for collaboration had to be explored. He said Pakistan was keen to promote the establishment of protected areas to respond effectively to climate change and his ministry was planning to establish ‘connectivity corridors’ in the existing protected areas in Hamalayas and Karakorum Mountain Ranges. The minister discussed with the Chinese ambassador ways for cooperation for clean development mechanism for which the China has already offered technical assistance. The Chinese envoy expressed the hope that cooperation and collaboration for environment protection would further strengthen friendship between the two countries. The two endorsed the idea that scientists of both countries should promote exchange of information on key wildlife species and their habitats in the border region and that they should also explore possibilities for promoting eco-tourism in areas between Kashghar and Gilgit as a tool for economic development of the poor communities. Courtesy of Daily Times

Dearth of flour in Gilgit. Sub-standard flour creats health Issues

The bullish and bearish trends among the flour businessmen in Gilgit has created a dearth situation of flour and public is in a great hardship to get the flour at a reasonable price. The dealers and shopkeeps sell flour at sky-rocking prices. It is also reported that the owners of the flour mills tend to supply sub-standard flour in the market which dangerously raises health issues in the region. None of the people involved in the flour business cares about the government set prices. Prevailing prices for 40kg bag of flour is between Rs. 1000 to 1500 while the government set price is Rs.500 for 40kg bag of flour.

Concerns stir among the public about the wheat shortage, bullish and bearish business trends and the government’s carelessness and ignorance over the situation.

Lowari Tunnel project: NA body wants proper security for foreign engineers

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Communications on Monday recommended proper security by the government for foreign engineers and consultants working on Lowari Tunnel project in Chitral.

It also called for transparent privatisation of toll plazas of National Highways and Motorways for revenue generation. The recommendations were made during a meeting chaired by Saeed Ahmed Zafar at parliament house. Minister for Communications Arbab Alamgir Khan briefed the committee on the Lowari Tunnel project.

He said the project had high security risks and therefore, the ministry had sought deployment of Frontier Constabulary or other security forces in Chitral to protect it against terrorism. The committee said the government should provide proper security to foreign engineers and consultants involved in the project due to growing concerns about their security in the area. Officials told the meeting that efforts were on for linking Gwadar with the country’s other parts by road.

The committee asked the government to complete the project, a gateway to the Central Asian states, on priority basis. It also expressed concern about delay in the Hassanabdal-Mansehra Expressway project and requested that the federal government release funds for land acquisition. MNAs Allauddin, Nafisa Shah, Abdul Majeed Khan Khanankhel, Dr Darshan, Murtaza Javed Abbasi, Kamran Khan and Sheikh Salahuddin attended the meeting. Courtesy of Daily Times

Cleansing of Gilgit City, Change of Administration, Marvi Mamon

GILGIT: PML-Q legislator Marvi Memon has said incumbent Gilgit administration has badly failed in maintaining law and order situation therein, therefore, it be changed and operation clean up be launched to cleanse Gilgit city from illegal arms. She said this while addressing a press conference here Sunday. She told recommendations would be evolved in the standing committee of national assembly to reprimand Gilgit-Baltistan administration on its failure. She described the compensation given by the government to family members of assassinated deputy speaker Syed Asad Zaidi very meager and urged the government to review the compensation money besides paying compensation to the family members of other two victims including Shahid Hussain and Nisar Hussain. She also voiced concern over what she said gross irregularities in the distribution of forms related to Benazir Income Support Program adding she would talk to the prime minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani about the large scale irregularities committed in this program.

Marvi Mamon’s stance on cleansing the Gilgit city seems irrelevant as none in Pakistan speaks of cleansing any city in North West Frontier Province or interior Punjab where high Pakistani officials call weapons to be part of pashtoon culture. Since the growing expansion of Taliban insurgency in NWFP and their intent to emark into Chitral and  Yasin Valley has spread the waves of anxiety, a search operation would fuel to the anger that persists in the constitutionally abondoned region.. The ordinary people are pressed squarely whoever gests a chance.  Cynics urge Marvi to adhere by and propagate the idea of Perveiz Musharaf, her leader who urged Military Withdrawl from the disputed region in his 4 points about Kashmir Resolution. Who knows the bullets come from a house or a barak.

Insufficient Wheat Quota for Gilgit Baltistan: PMLQ

Iqbal Hussain, Secretary Information Pakistan Muslim League(Q) claimed, in a statement, that the wheat quota for Gilgit Baltistan remains nowhere near the demands for 2 million population of Gilgit Baltistan. The wheat dearth puts the public in a great hardships. Iqbal Hussain expressed his concerns about the quota which was set twenty years back while it should be aligned parallel to the demographics of the region. He also expressed his gratitude to Marvi Mamon for her efforts in resolving this issue who has notified the PM. Iqbal Hussain hoped that the Prime Minister will take a prompt action in this regard.

Following George Hayward to Oxus::Yasin Valley

By Umar Mukhtar, M.A Cambridge, United States.
Source: www.yasinvalley.com

The year was 1870 and the venue was Durkut in Yasin valley. George Hayward, a geologist from Royal Geological Society of London kept sitting in his tent the whole night with a pistol in his hand and a rifle lying across the table suspecting some mischief on the part of Mir of Yasin valley and was apprehensive of Mir’s men. It was only in the wee hours of the morning when Hayward finally nodded that the watchful men of the Mir attacked and murdered George Hayward of Royal Geological Society of London. George Hayward, the geologist was apparently exploring the origins of Oxus River in the Pamirs. He started from Calcutta to Srinagar and trekked into Gilgit valley via Burzil pass in Astore. He was carrying loads of gifts with him for the local chieftains and perhaps this may be one reason for his murder. Hayward was traveling without the support of the British Government andRoyal Geological Society. The reason was that he wrote an article in Calcutta Journal about the gory details of the human slaughter by Dogra forces of Kashmir in Yasin valley the previous season and because of this free journalism, Hayward had invited wrath of both the British Government and its obedient ally the Maharaja of Kashmir. The less said about the illustrious past of Colonial Britain is perhaps better.

So one story goes like that the Maharaja of Kashmir actually got Hayward killed through the incumbent Mir of Yasin valley as Maharaja was very furious over the writings of Hayward against the atrocities of his forces. Another story goes like that the Wali of Chitral was also interested in receiving the valuable gifts from George Hayward and prevailed upon the Mir of Yasin valley that Hayward may go to hell or another place of his liking but only after meeting His Majesty, the Wali of Chitral. So Hayward probably wanted to go strictly north and the local politics wanted him to go somewhat west towards Chitral. The argument cost Hayward his life. It is interesting to note that Hayward first met the Mir of Yasin valley in Yasin village and gave him the gifts and only then proceeded to Durkut in the northern most part of Yasin valley to get murdered at the hands of his supposedly host.

Yasin valley lies north of Gupis on the road from Gilgit to Shandoor. In the north the valley is bounded by Durkut Pass leading into Yarkhun in Chitral and onwards into Wakhan and Pamirs. The valley is bounded in the east by Ishkoman valley and in the west by Mastuj valley. It takes around three hours to reach the main Yasin village in Yasin valley from Gilgit.

The valley has an interesting history and remained under the control of China, Arabs, Central Asians and at times remained an independent state. The valley had a very strategic location in the lap of Pamirs separating the two greatest powers of the time i.e. Great Britain and Russia. History tells us about Russian agents standing at the top of Durkut Pass and Pamirs overlooking into the valley in 1890s however they later retreated never to be seen again. Similarly any conspiracy theory may make George Hayward actually a British intelligence officer rather than a geologist especially if one notes the time frame i.e. 1870, perhaps the great game between the two empires was in full swing.

So when one descends into the valley today on comfortable four wheelers, this historical baggage keeps one overawed with the significance this tiny state yielded in those days. In 1895, the Pamir Boundary Commission started its work with hundreds of officers and around 400 ponies to settle the boundaries of the two empires in this lawless frontier and the recommendations of the commission ended the dispute of frontiers. However with this agreement, Yasin valley lost its strategic significance and became just another small state of Colonial India.

The landscape is a typical mountain valley developed over centuries around a central small Yasin river, a tributary of Gilgit river. The water is turbid due to the sediments carried by it in sharp contrast to the turquoise green waters of Gilgit river. The road is paved and reasonable well maintained up till the shrine of Havaldar Lalik Jan Shaheed of Kargil War fame. Just after the Yasin bazaar and opposite to the NAPWD rest house is a dirt road that goes into a village along a ridge. Take this road and after some 500 meters, another small passage branches of at right angle to the dirt road. One may or perhaps may not see a huge boulder that has been blasted by some unscrupulous contractor to make way for some road. This boulder used to carry the name of George Hayward and an arrow showing the direction in which Hayward proceeded. The carving was done by Hayward as a signal for some British search parties who may come looking for him later on and this also shows that he had a good idea of the brewing conspiracies against him.

Yasin village has a good NAPWD rest house and a few small roadside hotels. However if you go to Yasin valley, the two must see places are the shrine of Havaldar Lalik Jan and the northern village of Durkut.

The shrine of Havaldar Lalik Jan is around one hour drive from the Yasin Bazaar. The Shahdat of this gallant soldier has brought a lot of development for the people of his village in the shape of paved road, schools and dispensaries. The shrine is aesthetically constructed and surrounded by well maintained lawns. The house of Lalik Jan is just besides the shrine however the widow of Lalik Jan now lives in Gilgit along with her children.

The scenic village of Durkut is about one and a half hour drive on a strictly jeepable track from the shrine. On the way, one crosses the northern area scouts check post set up to check the movement of any un-authorized foreigners especially from across the border from Afghanistan or Tajikistan. It may be a bit sensational to say that these un-authorized foreigners may one day include some gentlemen with millions of dollars as their head money. The road to Durkut is actually a passage in the wilderness with the jeep crossing formidable streams and negotiating some sharp turns and one wonders as to why people live in such inaccessible areas. On the way, one can see some small man-made water channels flowing against the natural gradient of slope backed by pressure of water, something difficult to accept for a logical mind unless of course one sees it for himself. This particular method of irrigation is common in many areas of the north.

And then one crosses a small wooden bridge to enter the village of Durkut. The Policeman at the local check post dutifully stops the tourists and enter the necessary details in his register. However due to the general prevailing situation, the good officer does not have to do much work these days. A glimpse at the valley at this point is rewarding with huge glaciers over looking the vast lush green meadows of the valley. The jeep track takes one further down into the village and onward into the valley and the scene becomes more eye-catching as one moves further although the road also becomes a bit more tricky. The best way to explore the village and valley is by doing a one or two nights camping in the vast meadows.

The valley leads further to Durkut Pass and thence into Yarkhun area of Chitral which borders Wakhan and Pamirs. Back to our dear George Hayward, it was here in this valley that he was killed. Another day and Hayward may have crossed the Durkut pass away from the sharp swords of the Mir’s men, in search of his ‘Origins of Oxus’. But this was not to happen and he was killed, taken back to Gilgit and buried their in Chinar Bagh on the banks of Gilgit river. The locals point to a couple of locations as a probable camping site of George Hayward but not with certainty. A bit of dedicated research may shed some light on the exact location of the camping site and any revelation in this regard would be a boon for the tourist potential of the valley.

It was heartening to note that the local administration is fully aware of its responsibilities and is working hard to develop the area. The administration is already trying to restore the Hayward rock near Yasin bazaar and is trying to point the camping site of George Hayward with the help of locals. A couple of small monuments elaborating the history of Yasin valley and the voyage of George Hayward in places like Yasin bazaar and Durkut valley would definitely boost the influx of both foreigner and local tourists. A small motel by Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation in the scenic valley of Durkut would be welcomed by both the arm chair luxury tourists as well as hard bodied trekkers wishing to explore Wakhan and Pamirs.