جو اُجلا تن نہیں تو کیا میں اُجلا من تو رکھتا ہوں
میں تشنہ لب ہوں آنکھوں میں مگر ساون تو رکھتا ہوں
اگرچہ تیرگی ہی تیرگی ہے چار سُو میرے
میں ایسی تیرگی میں بھی دلِ روشن تو رکھتا ہوں
مرے دامن میں رنج و غم کی ہے اشکوں کی دولت ہے
مجھے مت جانیے مفلس کہ ایسا دھن تو رکھتا ہوں
میں بستا شہر میںہوں پھر بھی صحرا سے مجھے نسبت
نہیں میں قیس تو کیا ہے میں پاگل پن تو رکھتا ہوں
میں اُن کو دل میں رکھتا ہوں جو تائبؔ دور رہتے ہیں
اگرچہ بے ہنر ہوں پھر بھی اتنا فن تو رکھتا ہوں
Born in 1894 in "Darb Sadah" of Cairo: Mehmood Taimur has attained a distinguished place in the world of literature. Besides writing literature, he has also written many essays/articles. He has highlighted social problems in his social essays and has become a social reformer. He has pinpointed the following social issues in these essays: (1) He has exposed the social ills like class distinction: sexual deprivation destitute and ignorance. (2) He has also acquainted the people about the causes of polygamy and divorce in the light of Shariat and rejects the contention with the solid argument that woman is a weak creature subjected to all kind of wrong treatment. Every person has a right to lead a peaceful life in this world and no one has the right to deprive him of this privilege except owing to some Islamic law. Most of the people were unaware of the rights of woman granted by Islam or they were not accepting them but Mehmood Taimur has presented all those rights in a beautiful way before society that is why on reading his social essays man reaches the conclusion that he was a social reformer.
This study attempts to evaluate the impact Karakoram Highway (KKH) on the socio-economic development of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. It is a vast, mountainous and remote area in the extreme north of Pakistan extend between 340 40’ to 370 0’ North latitude and 720 30’ to 780 0’ East longitude. Geographically, the study area (Gilgit-Baltistan) is bounded in the North-West by Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan, China in the North-East, Jammu and Kashmir in the East, Azad Jammu and Kashmir in the South-East, whereas the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan in the south and west. The climate of the region is characterized by warm/hot summer and cool/cold winter. The total area of Gilgit-Baltistan is about 72,496 km2. For the purpose of administration, it has been divided into seven districts i.e. Gilgit, Diamer, Hunza-Nagar, Ghanche, Ghizer, Skardu and Astore. Significance of the area is evident from its geographical location as it is the juncture of Central Asia, China and South Asia. However, this important area remained cut off from the rest of the country (Pakistan) until the inception of Karakoram Highway (KKH) in 1978. Their only source of livelihood was local agricultural production which was insufficient for the whole population. Due to scarcity of victuals large number of people faced starvation during the snowy winter season. The idea of constructing this gigantic highway was proposed after the boundary settlement with China in 1963. Construction of KKH started in 1966 aiming at two main objectives; to link the vast area of Gilgit-Baltistan with the rest of Pakistan and to develop a land route to China. This study is an attempt to sort out impacts of KKH and to answer the question ‘what are the impacts of KKH on the socio-economic development of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan’. To achieve the task four objectives were designed. Primarily, to explore the growth and development of KKH, secondly, to assess the impact of KKH on the socio-economic condition of Gilgit-Baltistan, thirdly, to find out the future prospects of KKH for the socio-economic development of the study area. To carry out this study, six variables including population, land use and agriculture, education, health, trade and tourism were selected and tested. Keeping in view purpose of the study, it was essential to collect all the necessary data for the achievement of objectives. Data were collected both from primary and secondary sources. Data pertaining to selected variables were collected pre and post KKH as available for the whole area. The collected data were analysed and presented in the form of maps, statistical diagrams and tables. The analysis reveals that after the completion of KKH the inhabitants of Gilgit-Baltistan took a sigh of relief and positive changes occurred in the overall socio-economic sectors. It was explored from the analysis that the population of the districts along KKH has increased manifold. The agriculture and livestock sector was a traditional source of livelihood, but after the construction of KKH a paradigm shift has been recorded by introducing modern agricultural techniques and motivation for the farmers to cultivate more rewarding cash crops. The analysis further revealed that during 1996 to 2016 land use land cover in the three sample districts located along the KKH has shown radical changes. It was found that area under built-up environment was increased, contrary to this area under farmland decreased. Similarly, positive change has been noted in area under forest cover. It was found from the analysis that after the construction of KKH a rapid progress in education and health sector has been registered. The literacy ratio was rapidly increased from 14.7% in 1981 to 37.8% in 1998 and further increased to 52.0 percent in 2012. However, a recorded twelve-time increase is registered in women education, from 1981 (3%) to 2012 (36%). Nevertheless, the women literacy ratio is still very low in Diamer and Astore districts. Similarly, in Gilgit-Baltistan, the number of Government health institutions has increased. However, the limited number of trained doctors is still an issue to be overcome. The analysis revealed that the performance of maternal and child health services in Gilgit-Baltistan lags behind and appears to have been weak. The analysis revealed that there is expanding trade and commence potentials due to KKH and greater retention of economic value in the local economy is expected to further boost-up. However, it needs special attention of National Highway Authority to take care of its maintenance and to mitigate frequent landslides along the KKH. The study explores that prior to the construction of KKH the latitudes of trade between Pakistan and China through ancient silk route was negligible. However, after the inception of KKH, the trade between Pakistan and China has been boost-up. The recent development in the form of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), where KKH is part of CPEC project provides a land route to China and Gilgit-Baltistan to warm-water of Arabian Sea and expected to further boost-up the trade between China and Pakistan in the years ahead. It was found from the analysis that KKH has opened avenues for the local population. It is high time that the ministry of tourism and culture needs to develop tourism sector on priority basis and un-earthen this precious treasury of Gilgit-Baltistan. It was found from the analysis that prior to the construction of KKH, poor road network, lack of transport facility, absence of hotels and restaurants had been hurdles in promoting tourism. This study, however, provides policy guidelines for promoting socio-economic development of this underdeveloped area.