By Syed Shams Uddin July 2, 2025 Once to be hailed as the “Shangri-La of Asia,” Gilgit-Baltistan is now sounding a distress signal that the world can no longer afford to ignore. This northern frontier of Pakistan, known for its towering peaks, verdant valleys, and some of the largest non-polar glacial reserves on Earth, is undergoing a dangerous transformation. Its glaciers—those silent sentinels of the Karakoram and Hindukush ranges—are not merely melting. They are warning us. Cracks in Paradise: From Bagrote to Nagar and Beyond From the awe-striking Gargo and Khama Glaciers in Bagrote Valley to the fast-depleting icefields of Nagar Proper, every corner of Gilgit-Baltistan now bears visible scars of ecological distress. What was once thought to be a slow-moving threat—climate change—has erupted into an onslaught of rapid disasters: flash floods, glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), collapsing hanging glaciers, and freak weather events. These are no longer seasonal anomalies. They...
By Syed Shams Uddin In a world where public offices often become bastions of inaccessibility and bureaucratic indifference, a resident of Gilgit-Baltistan took to Facebook on June 29, 2025, to pay tribute to a civil servant from the Planning Department of Gilgit-Baltistan. Though the official's name eludes recall despite diligent attempts to retrieve the original post, the essence of the message remains vivid. The official was lauded as a rare exception—an embodiment of compassion, humility, and ethical responsibility. The heartfelt post resonated widely, offering a refreshing and inspiring glimpse of what public service can—and should—truly represent. While numerous government functionaries adopt airs of arrogance, distancing themselves from the very people they are meant to serve, this official was praised as “the beautiful face of the entire region.” The tribute did not merely flatter; it carefully illustrated the character, behavior, and moral choices of an individual whos...