{"id":127070,"date":"2026-06-05T21:28:46","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T16:28:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=127070"},"modified":"2026-06-05T21:28:49","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T16:28:49","slug":"bilawal-vows-to-ensure-ownership-rights-18th-amendment-protections-for-gilgit-baltistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/127070\/","title":{"rendered":"Bilawal vows to ensure ownership rights, 18th Amendment protections for Gilgit-Baltistan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Web desk(National Times)- PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Friday promised to ensure the right of ownership and the protections of the 18th Constitutional Amendment for the people of Gilgit-Baltistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His remarks came during a public rally in Gilgit, part of his region-wide campaign ahead of the June 7 elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Addressing the rally, Bilawal said it was part of the PPP\u2019s election manifesto to grant all constitutional rights to the region, including the right to own land and financial protections under the 18th Constitutional Amendment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He urged the people of GB to give the PPP a \u201cheavy mandate\u201d, so the party could continue its struggle to secure the region\u2019s ownership rights, calling on them to spread his message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bilawal said legislation on the matter had been tabled in the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly and had been passed by the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs per the legislation, 28,000 square miles of land owned by the government has been converted into common land. We have fulfilled our promise to this stage,\u201d the PPP chairman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bilawal added that the legislation should now be implemented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI request the people of Gilgit-Baltistan that this time I need a heavy majority,\u201d he said, warning that if any party other than the PPP came into power, it would \u201ctear this legislation apart\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhether you belong to the PPP or not, I request all the people of the region to vote for the PPP, because only we can safeguard ownership rights.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The former foreign minister said that the region was the&nbsp;<em>Koh-i-Noor<\/em>&nbsp;of Pakistan\u2019s destiny, adding that if the PPP won the upcoming elections, it would unlock the economic potential of GB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe politicians of the 1990s do not understand the role technology can play,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bilawal said that digital infrastructure was more \u201ccrucial\u201d than transport or physical infrastructure. \u201cThrough digital connectivity, a youngster living in Gilgit-Baltistan can earn money from home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe will make efforts to ask China for optical fibre connectivity; if not, we will request the United States to provide satellite-based Starlink internet services so we can move forward,\u201d the PPP chairman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During his address, he also made various promises to initiate public-private partnership-based projects, including a health network and a housing scheme for people affected by floods in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said the entire Muslim world was going through difficult times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou can see what\u2019s happening in Palestine, Lebanon, Arab countries, and specifically Iran,\u201d he said, asking who could represent the country in such times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDuring these times, if we want to raise the voice of Gilgit-Baltistan in Islamabad and across the world, there is no better option than President Asif Ali Zardari,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bilawal has spent the last few days addressing campaign rallies in the region, including a rally in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2004374\"><u>Shigar<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;on Monday where he stated that any new constitutional amendment should provide protection to the rights of GB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also addressed a public gathering in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2004625\"><u>Skardu<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;on Tuesday where he called for greater rights for the region. There, the Bhutto scion asserted that the PPP was the \u201conly party that represents the underprivileged and the poor\u201d, and emphasised that the country could only develop once the working class and the youth were economically empowered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Additionally, speaking in Diamer on Wednesday, he&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2004941\"><u>vowed<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;to address the resettlement concerns of those affected by the construction of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam on an \u201cimmediate basis\u201d if his party was elected. He added that had President Asif Ali Zardari\u2019s government not been removed in 2013, the dam would have been built by now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">General elections in GB are scheduled for Sunday, after a four-month&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1961844\"><u>delay<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;attributed to harsh winter weather.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Web desk(National Times)- PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Friday promised to ensure the right of ownership and the protections of the 18th Constitutional Amendment for the people of Gilgit-Baltistan. His remarks came during a public rally in Gilgit, part of his region-wide campaign ahead of the June 7 elections. Addressing the rally, Bilawal said it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127071,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Bilawal vows to ensure ownership rights, 18th Amendment protections for Gilgit-Baltistan - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/127070\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bilawal vows to ensure ownership rights, 18th Amendment protections for Gilgit-Baltistan - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Web desk(National Times)- PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Friday promised to ensure the right of ownership and the protections of the 18th Constitutional Amendment for the people of Gilgit-Baltistan. 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