Tensions escalated in the Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan region on Friday when security forces arrested several students for participating in a peaceful demonstration against the land grab in the name of promoting “green tourism.”

The arrests took place after students from Karakoram International University in Skardu held a symbolic protest walk in the city’s park on May 26. Among the arrested were Comrade Babar, Owais Ahmed and others. They voiced vehement opposition to the Pakistan Army’s attempts to seize control of forests, rest houses and other lands across Pak-occupied-Gilgit-Baltistan under the guise of environmental initiatives.

The students accused Pakistan military of trying to deprive locals of their land resources and make them landless and voiceless minorities in their own territory for corporate gains. The demonstration came after the POGB authorities recently leased out 20 guest houses and 16 forest nurseries to a private company favored by the Army.

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