Why are Chitralis on the Road?

Not many national TV channels or media sources will tell you, but Chitralis are on the roads protesting for their basic rights for the last ten days in Peshawar and Islamabad. This protest is led by a social and political movement “Tehreek Tahafuz e Huqooq Chitral (TTHC)” run by young activists and students from Chitral under the leadership of Chairman TTHC Mr. Pir Mukhtar Nabi and his team. This organization has long been raising its voice for the challenges of Chitral, including the cruelty on women who are married off to rich people in the cities through a well-managed broker system. There are other leaders from Chitral who are leading the protest, including Shehzada Siraj Ul Mulk and now joined by political leaders from JUI, PPP, and PTI. A minor political representation is seen still and most of the politicians from Chitral have not said a word about this protest.  This time the protest shows a long struggle of the people of Chitral under the leadership of TTHC to raise their voices for the rights that the state has deprived them of since Chitral joined Pakistan in 1969. The situation is not very different from any other marginalized rural community in Pakistan, like Gilgit-Baltistan, Interior Sindh, and many places in Baluchistan. Since the national and big media groups would never cover such protests, the youth of Chitral, joined by allies from different parts of Pakistan, is also trying to make the hashtag  چترال_کو_حق_دو# a trend on Twitter so that the rest of the country notices their protest. To start with, it is a shame that these young people accompanied by the elders have to come all the way to Peshawar and Islamabad to record their protest. This is a moment for policymakers and government officials to think about how marginalization comes at the cost of excluding a certain population from the political space of the country.

You might wonder about the demands of Chitralis and why they are out on the roads in this harsh winter. Let us look at the charter of demand of this protest as highlighted in the banners that the protestors carry:

• Establishment of a Grid Station in Upper Chitral and Demand for Providing the Region with 30 MW electricity Generated at the Golen Gole Power Station.
• Dir-Chitral Motorway and Repairing the Roads and Bridges.
• A call for Reassessment of the Flood situation in Chitral and Provide Due Support.
• Allocation of Seats in Public Sector Universities and Other Institutions as per the Population Ratio.
• The right of Chitralis for small scale apply for a mining lease as per the regulations of MIFA.
• Filling the vacant seats in all hospitals and providing logistic and technical support.
• Forming an independent Commission to audit the development funds that have been allocated to Chitral since it became a part of Pakistan and make the report publicly available.
• Establishment of Nursing College, Medical College, and Cadet College in Chitral.
• Special attention towards the climate change situation in Chitral and taking action against the timber mafia.

These are just a few of the many demands that Chitralis are asking for. Most of the medical and nursing% colleges and universities in Peshawar and other cities are populated by students from Chitral who have to live in the very tough conditions in the cities, and it only makes sense to facilitate the students in Chitral. The electricity that is produced in Chitral is not given to Chitral and people have to suffer load shedding in winter, and there is no other point that has to be made about this. It shows the unfair treatment towards Chitralis whose resources are extracted without giving them the due share in return. The mountains and pastures are getting nationalized, and the people are asking for these resources to stay community property. Everyone talks about the beauty of Chitral and objectifies its beauty for tourism but the roads, health system, education, and other basic facilities get no attention from the government. I leave it up to the readers if any of these demands are unjustified or if Chitralis are asking for too much!

The protestors and supporters hope that every Chitrali will join the demonstration and that people from around the world will support their cause by participating in the protest and using the hashtag “#چترال_کو_حق_دو” on social media. The movement calls for a peaceful but firm political agenda to have their issues addressed and resolved by the government and relevant authorities.