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Is Bashir Hussain Azad enough to serve the interests of Chitral?

Dear Sir,

This refers to letters by Mr. Bashir Hussain Azad from Chitral, which appear in various dailies on daily basis.

I really appreciate Bashir Hussain Azad for his bold efforts, which he is making to highlight and project the problems of our backward area, Chitral. 

However, is Bashir Hussain Azad enough to serve the interests of Chitral? I think our problems are so great and complicated, that every one belonging to various fields of life should come forward and start �Jihad� to rid of the problems of our people. We should make collective efforts to bring our district at par with the developed districts of our country. It needs sincerity and devotion and responsibility lies on every one shoulders.

Chitral is the most backward and neglected area of our country. Poverty level is more than 40%. It remains cut off from the rest of the country for six month. Infrastructure of communication is very poor due to the hard climatic conditions. Trade and economic activities are low due to unique geographical set up of Chitral. No industry has been set up in Chitral so far. Un-employment is high and people go down country in search of employment. Natural resources have not been exploited and the most important resource �Forests� are diminishing day by day. There is good potential for hydel power generation in Chitral, but proper attention has not been paid to it. Cottage industry has been the most important source of the income of the area, but at the moment, this sector is suffering a lot. Tourism in Chitral has been affected badly in recent years due to terrorism in down country, although Chitral is the most peaceful area.

So to address these problems and bring the attention of the Govt towards them, every one should contribute his/her share in this regard. Intellectual community of Chitral should come forward and raise our issues through their writings and letters. Leadership of Chitral should not turn deaf ears to the problems; otherwise, they will meet the same fate as happened with previous govt in the last election.

Lastly, Mr. Bashir Hussain Azad is advised to keep his efforts and do more and more through his writings and letters to alleviate the sufferings of the people of Chitral.

Abdul Nasir Khan
Islamabad.