krash
MODERATOR
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2009
- Messages
- 5,885
- Reaction score
- 29
- Country
- Location
These articles and websites are as worthy to debunk as the claims of a diagnosed schizoid claiming to be Superman. If one were to go debunking every ill-cooked monkey claim from every self-proclaimed analyst-cum-guru one would find life itself short and futile. 'What's put up' is what people read, true. What people read is what they analyze, scrutinize and deliberate over; apparently not so true for the sheep of this day and age. Any sane man capable of any comprehensible thought would be well ashamed if caught giving any more credence to "articles" such as this than what they are worth i.e. any more credence than what desperately and tastelessly formulated garbage is worth. Although ulterior motives are a play everywhere these days.... Hint for the wise *wink*.
The whole situation up north holds no resemblance to anything remotely funny and even less to what is seen in the Indian held Kashmir. But these comparisons, though stark, are not for this thread.
On to the thread. In all my years traveling up, down and across our north I have never once witnessed any signs of any such movement, far from it being remotely popular. I would not be surprised at all if this article was just another desperate attempt at a half-baked cake made from thin air. The people up there are unprecedentedly nice. I have dinned with these people in their houses, I have spent days on mountain sides, mid-winters, cooked up in a tent with them, I've found many a friend up there but I've never found them wanting. These are honest folk who are as tough in their lives as they are simple and soft in their interaction. Their wishes seldom go beyond food, shelter, education and health for their children. The crime rate up there is extraordinarily low and these people are extremely accepting. Political turmoil, extremism, religious fanaticism (Google: Ismailis), ethnic strife, contrary to what some anonymous "writers" out there would have you believe, are virtually unheard of for the people living up there. These people are as Pakistani in action and spirit as am I. A brief talk on anything Pakistani will easily make it abundantly clear. A talk on the Pakistani army would be even more interesting. The only notable political demand that they have, which I might add is, sadly, always conveyed too passively to bear any reasonable pressure on the government, is of being something more than just a 'federally administrated area', which is not unreasonable at all. And I believe there were positive talks going on within the government to give them a provincial status of sorts.
You don't have to take my word for any of this, you can ask any of the countless foreigners who've ever been up there. In fact I'll give you a start. Matt and Ty Gordon are two American brothers who once came to our North trying to find some awesome, never before discovered bouldering routes. What they found up there was what they fell in love with. And now its been more than 11 years, I think, since they've been living in Skardu. They live there with their wives and two little daughters (I think they are 3 and 4 years old now) and Justin, a friend of their's, visits them for months at times every year. They have quit a lot to say about Pakistan, in general, and Gilgit Baltistan, in specific. Go through their site. At least you'll love the pictures. Karakorum Climbing.com
EDIT:
The worry is not of what this thread holds for G/B. It is of what threads like these have turned this forum into; A platform for bickering, naive and artless children. While many have left exactly because of this there are still some here who remember the better times of this forum and many of them have decided since long to only browse and not post anymore. I genuinely feel angry at what has been going on here.
