GB chief secretary: New classrooms will rise from ashes of school blaze

GILGIT: The chief secretary of Gilgit-Baltistan announced that the renovation of a girls’ school wrecked in a blaze in Darel valley of the Diamer district in the mountainous region will be completed by Friday (tomorrow).

“God willing, tomorrow the renovated building of the school will be ready [to welcome students],” Mohyuddin Ahmad Wani said, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan.

The school was torched on Tuesday morning in an incident locals blamed on suspected militants. The fire completely gutted the building and the furniture was also burned down.

The police have filed a complaint under Section 6 (terrorist act) and 7 (punishment for the terrorist act) of the Anti-Terrorism Act as well as Section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of Rs50), and 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy a house, etc) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

Following the incident, the regional administration vowed to rebuild the institution along with providing security to the existing ones. To combat potential learning losses in the meantime, an adjacent residential unit was converted into an educational unit.

Wani said the classes would start in the “most beautiful building in the region” on Friday.

Muhammad Ahmad Saad
Muhammad Ahmad Saad
The writer is a former member of the staff.

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