The Troubleland of Gilgit

I’m turning 29 today. So I went to a gun shop in Gilgit to look for a birthday present for myself. While thinking whether to buy a Derringer’s multi-barreled pistol or a Kalashnikov, the shopkeeper told me that the price of AK-47s has gone sky high recently, reputedly due to increasingly rise of ‘Jihadism’ from radicals Muslims currently residing in Afghanistan and Waziristan. Knowing that I have no certificate from the government, he asked me to go to the Tribal Areas, or the Smuggler Bazaar at the outskirt of Peshawar city. I can probably get a cheaper one over there. Oh, come on! I’m an alien. I can’t go to the foreigner-forbidden Tribal Areas. And I don’t think the Taliban and the tribal leaders over there have the certificate! No fun at all. There is no equal right in Pakistan. Feeling disappointed, I walked out from the shop and decided to walk to the 6km-away Kargah Nala with Shen(a retired Chinese), hoping to get some enlightenment from the Buddha relief carved on the cliff face.

Kargah Nala

When I say walk, I usually don’t mean it. We hitched a Honda motorbike there driven by a crazy young fellow. I could feel that the rim of the rear wheel almost worn out by the stony ground. (Shen is a big fellow!). Unfortunately, I didn’t receive any enlightenment from the Buddha, perhaps She has been hanging on the cliff for too long and haven’t seeing visitors for ages until falling into hibernation. By the time we decided to leave Kargah Nala, night already fell. We planned to head back on foot as there was hardly any sign of human being on the unlit ‘road’. It wasn’t until we were stopped by the patrol police(on a motorbike) en route that we realized we had ran into trouble.  

Gilgit is the administrative headquarter of the Northern Areas and is known by travelers as an useful and unavoidable transport hub, no matter you are coming from the north or going to the east. This bustling town is also an interesting melting pot of different tribes of northern people. From the Afghan-like and Taliban-like people to the long-beard elders in Shalwar Kameez wrapped in a vest and topped with a pakol hat, everybody seemed so unfriendly and looked so fierce the first time you look at them.   

Suspension bridge connecting the town of Gilgit and Dainyor

NLI Chowk

Faces of Gilgit

Kashmiri

No woman face is allowed

During my second day of stay here, people were fighting on the street by arm and fist which switched from the busy and bustling bazaar to the chaotic and choking traffic junction at the other side and it lasted for almost an hour! Then when I came back again here from Skardu, one local was shot death around 3pm at a place just 100m from the guesthouse I stayed, allegedly religious conflict and revenge.

Congregated crowds watching the fighting

Reports of customary blood feud and sectarian conflict are not uncommon here. In 1988, the Sunni-Shia’a tension broke out in the valleys around Gilgit and subsequently evolved into gun battles which resulted in 100 dead. Several Ismailis have also been killed during different incidents in the past. In January 2005, 11 people died in violent clashes following a shooting attack on a Shia’a leader. Since then, the Karakoram Highway has sprouted heavy security presence where you will probably be shocked by the ubiquitous police and army checkpoints here when you set your foot here.

Army stationed in front of National Bank of Pakistan

Army with armory patrolling the town is a common sight

The two policemen who emerged from the middle of nowhere then stopped us from further venturing to the middle of somewhere. One of them seemed like contacting his superior using walkie-talkie. Shen and I were like idiots who have made a stupid mistake and were waiting for trial, in total darkness. The policeman at the back then gave us his seat and urged both of us to hop on the little tiny Honda motorbike and leave as soon as possible. We actually didn’t want to leave the policeman alone in the wilderness but…what can we do?

By the time we were dropped off at a strategic junction where police and army were heavily stationed, a police truck(the one with holds for handcuffs in which prisoners were always held) has been waiting. We were ‘invited’ to go with the truck, reputedly sending us back to the town.

It seemed like there was a curfew in the town of Gilgit by the time we reached the hotel, safely.

We were such an ignorant naughty little foreigner who doesn’t know how high the sky is and how low the ground is.