GILGIT: The land-affected people of Gilgit airport on Friday staged a sit-in outside the airport demanding land compensation that has been pending since 1949.

Protesters said land for the construction of Gilgit airport was acquired in 1949 and despite courts orders, the land compensation has not been given to the affected people.

A large number of local residents demanded decades-long delayed compensation of 658 kanals taken for the airport. As many as 128 families gave their land in 1949 for the construction of the airport, however, the affected people had been deprived from the land compensation, the protesters said.

Protesters Malik Iftikhar, Bilal Hussain, Zahoor Ahmad, Ilyas Khan and others said the Islamabad High Court (IHC) decided in favour of the affected people, the federal ombudsman gave nine decisions in favour of the affected people and even the president gave two decisions in favour of the land-affected people.

They said the issue was pending in the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan and the regional government had yet to coordinate the revenue record and send a summary to the federal government.

They threatened to suspend airport operations if their demands were not meet. The protesters also criticised the Gilgit-Baltistan government for not forwarding the required summary to the federal government.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2024