Gilgit Baltistan:
My experience as an Outsider,
I lived in Gilgit from 2023 to 2025. I never even heard of Gilgit before actually living there. Gilgit seemed like a different country because of its uniquely iconic culture and very wholesome people. The weather was the best, along with its Peak Mountainous horizons. It felt like heaven. I had some of the best experiences of my life living there
but there’s a dark side to Gilgit in all of this.
I was really surprised to see that internet connectivity was really bad there. Roads were broken, People were fed up with poor governance and low development. You’ll be surprised how people survive winter there. Winter is really depressing, electricity is rare. No Gas only kerosene or wood or LPG in Cylinders. Amidst all this there has been surge in suicides particularly among young youth and young women while the region is celebrated for its stunning landscapes, high literacy rates, and rich cultural heritage, communities like Ghizer, Hunza, and Gilgit are grappling with severe underlying systemic and social pressures. There is little to none infrastructure for Mental health cases across GB.
There’s another thing I was really shook with. It’s religious sectarianism.
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People are divided by sects yet somehow co-exist but when things heat-up, Seeing people kill each other because of religious sects isn’t such a surprise after all.
GB possesses a unique demographic mosaic where Shia, Sunni, Ismaili, and Noorbakshi communities live in close proximity.
I had Shia and Ismaili friends though, I’m from a Sunni family. They never really exerted any prejudice to each other yet light religious debates were normal.
Well Of course I was living near the Gilgit city where most of the population is literate but sectarianism is at its intensity in areas like Chilas and Nagar or Kashrote and sometimes its effects are also seen in the much educated Gilgit city. Just like when a guy in my school fought with me when he misunderstood my religious opinion.
let’s Get to the part which fascinated me.
Imagine you’re in a place like this, You’re with your Gilgiti friends hanging out and enjoying the horizons, one of them tells you about their local myths and folklore about fairies, demons and what not. Stuff which they promise they’ve seen with their eyes. You feel like you’re living in some mythical place. That stuff was really fascinating to me. Cultural festivals like Nasalo festival and Shandur polo festival were also fascinating.
I believe Gilgit Baltistan is a place which should be taken seriously by the government as people are already fed up with poor governance. The spark of this region should be kept.
