Residents in the Minawar area of Gilgit city staged a protest against the Gilgit-Baltistan administration on Monday, accusing the Gilgit sub-division administration of illegal land-grabbing.

A video has surfaced where locals can be seen staging a protest against the administration saying that they wouldn’t allow anyone to occupy their land.

The protesting locals can be heard saying, “The land belongs to us, but the government is coming to take it away from us.”

The protestors stopped the administration officials and their vehicles and also did the barricading, saying that they won’t be allowing the administration to use their land. The protesters blocked the road using electricity pylons and boulders.

A large contingent of police and paramilitary forces, Ranger, FC, and GB Scouts were present during the protest, however, they remained silent.

The protesters said that the administration was involved in snatching the locals’ land by declaring them “Khalsa Sarkar”, a term used to identify lands that the government says belong to the state.

Locals believe that the law is being used to deprive them of their common ancestral properties.

During the last couple of years, locals have staged protest against the area administration on multiple occasions. It has resulted in locals involved in heated exchanges with law enforcement and paramlitary forces.