Diamer police detain 10th-grade student during protest against results

GILGIT: Diamer police briefly detained a 10th-grade student leader on Saturday who gained attention on social media for his speech during a protest against the Gilgit-Baltistan Elementary Board results earlier this week.

The board announced the results for grades 5 and 8 on Monday. The overall pass percentages for the region stood at 28.62% for grade 5 and 40.78% for grade 8, highlighting significant disparities across districts.

Gilgit emerged as the top performer with a 51.69% pass rate for grade 5 and an impressive 72.11% for grade 8.

Ghizer and Kharmang secured the second and third positions for both grades, with pass percentages of 34.22% and 32.58% for grade 5, and 58.11% and 50.93% for grade 8, respectively.

Hunza ranked fourth for grade 8 with a pass rate of 47.69%, while achieving 31.37% in grade 5.

Skardu ranked fifth for grade 5 with a 28.17% pass rate but struggled in grade 8, falling to ninth place with 31.01%.

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Ghanche displayed mixed results, ranking sixth in both grade 5 (24.87%) and grade 8 (35.30%).

Nagar recorded a 19.14% pass rate for grade 5, placing seventh, but improved to fifth place in grade 8 with 36.52%.

Shigar ranked last (tenth) in grade 5 with 17.04% but performed better in grade 8, ranking seventh with 35.02%.

Diamer ranked ninth in grade 5 with 17.18% and eighth in grade 8 with 32.44%. Astore ranked last in grade 8 with a 22.74% pass rate and eighth in grade 5 with 17.87%.

Following the results, failed students blocked the Karakoram Highway (KKH) in protest against the board.

During the demonstration, a student named Raja Abid delivered a passionate speech, drawing a parallel between their protest and the student protests in Bangladesh, where Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid faced intense opposition. His speech went viral on social media, making him a social media sensation.

On Saturday, the students gathered again on KKH to intensify their protest and press their demands. However, police dispersed the protesters and detained five students, including Raja Abid. They were released later.

Raja Abid’s detention sparked widespread condemnation on social media, with many criticizing the authorities for their handling of student protests.

In a conversation with HUM News English, Balawaristan National Front’s Supreme Leader and Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly Member Nawaz Khan Naji expressed his concerns over the arrest, saying Abbid was an activist of his party.

“Branding a student as a criminal for raising his voice for education is deeply alarming,” he added.

Former chief minister Khalid Khursheed said arrest of young students in Chilas simply for protesting was unacceptable. “Shameless rulers and their disgraceful masters have broken all records of oppression in Gilgit-Baltistan. The brave people of Chilas must rise and protest against this injustice,” he lamented.

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Diamer Police SSP Sher Khan dismissed reports of Abid’s arrest as false and misleading. He clarified that the news circulating on social media about Raja Abid’s arrest was ” baseless”. He said Abid and other protesting students were stopped at Airport Chowk due to the movement of a Chinese delegation working on key projects along the Karakoram Highway.

 “They were taken to City Police Station for a discussion and were peacefully dispersed after negotiations. People should not believe in such baseless propaganda,” Sher Khan added.

He suggested that proper dialogue should take place instead of blocking roads and disrupting travel for thousands of people.

After his release, Abid reaffirmed his commitment to the protest and their demands. He stated that students who scored 33% should be considered as passing, according to the previous grading criteria, which had recently been increased to 40%.

He warned that if their demands were not met, students would demand a re-examination.

In response to the poor academic performance in the recent results, the Chief Secretary of Gilgit-Baltistan has taken action by requesting a special team of experts from the federal government to assess the situation and propose solutions for educational improvement.

Mehr Bano Shah, others arrested during protest

The Federal Ministry of Education has appointed a team of educators, subject specialists, and assessment experts to work on enhancing the teaching standards, evaluation methods, and teacher training programs in Gilgit-Baltistan.

The team will conduct a detailed review of the curriculum, early childhood education, assessment procedures, training programs, and the overall educational evaluation process.

The team is set to begin work with the Education Department on Monday, February 10, 2025, and will submit its recommendations to Cheif Secretary after a thorough investigation and analysis.