In the Belly of Batura Muztagh

This land, a tilled land filled with wonderful people and mesmerising beauty striked me to my soul. There are only a few places in this world that hold that special character, and to have it here in the land of Pakistan is a gift. Few have leaders that are entrepreneurial, devoid of mind clogging feuds and ill-set ideologues, and no wonder in that remoteness, stillness and order, beauty and health reigns their society. Not even with death can I forget that drive down the placket of Batura Muztagh. My eyes set on the lay and form of that land, to my eyes it’s a gem in its purest form, all set to become an origin of pragmatic juggernaut.

Why do I call it a gem? Are there no places in the world that are more beautiful, more characteristic, more driven by holy virtues? Yes, but is there a place that’s more shielded by corruption that stagnates the entire country around it? In the midst of all those voices of pain, inefficiencies, tanked systems, bureaucratic hell, suffering top command of military, political ideologues, dis-illusioned pan-islamic passions, is there a place that sits in more stillness? Is there a place more than just an eye candy? I’ve seen, in this strip of land more than I could imagine as the bread and butter of a future city. Yes, you can spring those cities strategically just as Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is doing with The Line in Neom, but that’s not exactly how a few people collected together can divert such massive capital to such an unknown place, but I believe with a focus of efforts over a lifetime, we can turn a mere valley into a powerhouse of globalization in a centre of people who yearn for that progress.

It's important to understand that progress does not come just by the passing of time. Our society in-doctrinates our people to think that way. It comes when a group of smart people devote themselves to an idea that has potential to inflict change in society, something that's beyond themselves. The true scarcity is not capital, neither governments, neither infrastructures, nor money. It's those few devoted people that are scarcity. Fullfillment of that scarcity attracts the resources. This idea of developing Hunza into a new world capital can't start without putting the first step, and most surely means have to be created to generate that massive capital, which is directed strategically to lay out modern systems and move things fast. In brevity, there's no loss of blueprints to make that happen, from startups, strategic mergers and acquisitions, and investing in companies that are solving important problems through venture capitals.

Climbing the roof of that Baltit Fort, this vision started to lay itself out, school after school, industry after industry, and it was not done when I asked the tour guide for the price of 300 square feet of land, when he gave a lasting grin, an awkward pause. He said 0.2 million USD, saying "even if you could pay, we won't give it you because you're not one of us." Such protection of their homeland and their culture is striking. It tells you why this place is the way it is. I held in the moment in admiration of that comment, helps you understand exactly what's important to these people. A society that protects its beliefs, and defends its own homeland is worthy of high commendation. Who can think amidst such remoteness and harsh terrain, a thousand reasons not to learn and study and they have 100% literacy rate! Besides that, there's no litter? Absolutely clean!

One may walk past and take no notice, but I took notice. They're special people. With right direction, right resources, right strategy, it can yield incalculable consequence, an economic output that may help trigger a change not only in the fate of those people, but of those who've inhabited lands about.  Build it into the embodiment of modern ideas, imbue it with a espirit de entrepenurship, and stand an examplery city for the entire world.