According to officials, a large number of Chinese nationals, students, and foreign tourists were unable to travel to China through Khunjerab Pass for the second consecutive day, as protesters in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) blocked the Karakoram Highway (KKH) between the two countries.
The stranded Chinese nationals and foreign tourists protested to local police for not arranging their departure to China. Officials said a large group of Chinese nationals protested and had a heated exchange of words with the officials.
The people and traders of GB have been staging a protest sit-in and blocking the Karakoram Highway for the past 51 days against the federal government’s collection of Sales Tax, Income Tax, and Excise Tax. They argue that this tax collection is illegal because the people of GB have no representation in Pakistan’s parliament and, according to the Constitution of Pakistan, are not part of the country. The protesters have blocked the KKH at Sost until their demands are met, suspending all travel between Pakistan and China through Khunjerab Pass.
GB Assembly member from the treasury bench, Advocate Amjad Hussain, who also serves as the PPP president of the GB chapter, told the GB Assembly that talks with the federal government are underway to resolve the issue. Advocate Amjad Hussain is also a member of a committee formed by the GB chief minister to hold negotiations with the federal government committee. In the first meeting between representatives of the two committees, the federal government admitted that the collection of Sales Tax, Income Tax, and Excise Tax from the people and traders of GB is illegal. Advocate Amjad Hussain told the GB Assembly that the issue will be resolved soon.
Opposition members of the GB Assembly, Javed Ali Manwa, Raja Zakaria, and Syed Sohail Abbas, criticized both the GB and federal governments for prolonging the issue instead of resolving it immediately. Protesters at the sit-in said that instead of solving their legitimate issues, the GB government is planning to crack down on them. They warned the government to be prepared for severe consequences if it attempts to take action against the protesters.
The protest sit-in on the KKH was called by all traders’ bodies in Gilgit-Baltistan. Gulsher Khan, one of the protest organizers, said that the federal and GB governments are not serious about resolving the issue. He stated that the protesters are demanding their rights under the Constitution of Pakistan and its laws. He added that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) cannot collect federal taxes from the people and traders of GB because they have no representation in Pakistan’s parliament, and therefore, the federal government cannot collect taxes from them. He also mentioned that over 200 consignments imported from China have been stuck at the Sost Dry Port for the past 10 months, causing traders in GB to face billions of rupees in losses. Another protest organizer, Ebad Nagari, said that FBR’s policies have made thousands of GB people jobless.
