Chitral- roadways
Yesterday day I travelled from upper Chitral to lower Chitral and the taxi was negotiating the hairpin bends so slowly that we had to spend 4 instead of 2 or less than that on any road in the Pathan part of KPK. I would emphasize the word PATHAN AREA which Chitralis have always called ‘Alghan’ and the inhabitants of those areas as Alghani.
Chitral is an unfortunate piece of land hemmed in by high mountains and money hungry tribesmen from behind the mountain chains that surround this mountain country of less than a million people. The PTI KPK government has in the past 3 years failed to extend any kind of relief to Chitralis in any way. The roads are in very bad condition, the vision of promoting Tourism in this part of Pakistan is just a slogan. Works on this section are done in other districts and the word Chitral is appended at the end of a sentence in the list of tourist destinations.
The present condition of roads in the main and side valleys is deplorable and tell the poor performance of the party at the helm of affairs. The slogan of tourism is false and by pseudo champions who beguile the public. One of the senior leaders of PTI commented that since he was not selected by the voters so they have no right to ask for developmental funds. Let them live as they are. We are not bound to allocate funds to those who have no regard for our manifesto. If the front line leaderships think on those lines then disaster is not far away. Work on improvement of the roads must begin within a month or the public has the legitimate right to start processions, strikes and hunger strikes, blockages of roads and demonstrations. Because negligence of genuine public demands will lead to unrest and that could lead to confrontation- and may prove harmful for the ruling party.
Prof. Rahmat Karim Baig
Chitral
