Jestak Han (Kalasha Temple)

Jestak Han (Kalasha Temple)
I am sharing a video clip of Jestak Han; the temple of the Kalasha community in Rumbor valley. Hope you will enjoy the trip inside of Jestak Han.
This clip was captured during my anthropological field work in august 2007.

Is it right to join the tribe? (Article Guardian UK)

Is it right to join the tribe?

Does living with the tribe, Bruce Parry style, place isolated cultures at risk from pressure to change? Jonny Beale looks at the rise in 'wild' tourism

Running an adventure travel company is becoming increasingly complex. With competitors constantly pushing the boundaries of alternative holidays - swimming with sharks, firing AK47s, driving packs of huskies - I am constantly forced to unearth new products for evermore discerning clients. Thankfully "gimmick" holidays are not really our style, but off-the-beaten-track adventures most certainly are, and even here things are being squeezed.

As little as five years ago on a trip to Ladakh, or Kyrgyzstan, or Libya, you could have travelled for days along the most obvious routes and not seen another tourist. The yurts we sourced from local nomads became our private homes, the trekking trails our personal footpaths. Now we are forced to find new routes each year to continue to provide a genuinely "wild" experience. These days off-the-beaten-track more often than not means unusual, rather than undiscovered, holidays.

Nowhere has seen a larger relative rise in tourist numbers than India. Year on year since 2002 those of us visiting the subcontinent for our holidays has increased three fold - from 2m to 6m. And yet despite this huge increase, both tourists and tour operators seem reluctant to discover the more remote rural heart of this wonderful travel destination, preferring instead to concentrate on the monuments, bazaars and shopping opportunities of the urban centres.

Yet venture into the undiscovered rural regions of this vast country and you can see, and more importantly, experience, the normal life that the vast majority of Indians live. On our trips to these villages, abhorring the idea of flitting into villages for hasty photo ops, we spend entire days with one community or another, learning about their way of life. Visiting a Gujjar caste of milkmen in southern Rajasthan for example, we follow their daily routing from the 5am start, milking the herd, through making lassi, cooking lunch (which we'll eat off banana leaf plates), enjoy a siesta on an old rope bed, only to make dung patties and collect water from the well as the sun goes down. To break the barriers between us and them, we will even dress in their clothes. And through the funds generated by the trip, help is given to the community - either to their schools, health programmes or agricultural development projects - to recompense them for their time.

There are those that think we should leave these people and their quiet lands alone; that by going into these isolated regions - and it's no exaggeration to say that some villages have never previously seen a white face - we are in some way corrupting them ... tainting them with our western values. That by dressing up in their clothes, we are patronising them.

In my opinion, like most things in life, if something is done right it works and if handled badly it does not. In India, Pakistan and Central Asia I have seen first hand how much enjoyment locals derive from having a genuinely interested foreign audience join their life for a while. I have seen the pleasure they gain from dressing us up - which is usually their idea - from feeding us their food and explaining their customs to us. I have also seen the financial rewards that can come when entrepreneurial individuals take this new business opportunity and run with it.

But it still seems not all agree. I'm sure Bruce Parry has come under fire for travelling to, and living with, various indigenous peoples in his ground-breaking series Tribes. By doing this, it is argued, he is exposing ancient cultures to the glare of the TV camera that would in time lead to change.

But isn't it true that change comes, whether people want it or not? And the challenge is in trying to make sure that the change is for the good.

Jonny Bealby is an author and founder of Wild Frontiers adventure travel company.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/blog/2007/aug/30/isitrighttojointhetribe

Unique Pakistan community under threat (BBC Feature)

Unique Pakistan Community under Threat

By Aijaz Maher 
BBC Urdu service, Islamabad

10 June 2009

Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) is today arguably one of the most dangerous places in the world.

But while that may be true of regions where the Taliban proliferate, there are still areas of NWFP where life goes on as normal.

The most prominent of these is the Kalash region in the northern-most district of Chitral.

It is named after the Kalash tribe which has been settled here since time immemorial.

The tribe, said to be descendants of Alexander the Great's soldiers, still practise an ancient pagan culture unlike any other in this part of the world.

For centuries, the Kalash have been a people apart.

In modern times, they have become a major tourist attraction, but in so doing have also attracted the ire of Islamic clerics.

This has led to many of them derogatively referring to the Kalash region as Kafiristan, or "land of the unbelievers."

Unique heritage

This ill-will was largely restricted to slogans and sermons - until the coming of the Taliban.

But that is not the only challenge facing this dwindling community - many educated young Kalash men have chosen to convert to Islam.

In doing so, they have abandoned the community to seek a life in the cities and a more upscale existence.

All these factors are combining to erase a unique heritage.

Hundreds of years ago about 3,000 Kalash people made their home in the Birir, Rumbur and Bumburet valleys among the Hindu Kush mountains of Chitral.

Generally speaking, the people of Chitral, Muslim or Kalash, are liberal when it comes to religion.

But the Taliban threat has now jeopardised all that, with the neighbouring district of Upper Dir firmly under their control.

"Chitral is one of the most peaceful regions in Pakistan," Abdul Wali, a local lawyer says.

"All communities here have brotherly relations with each other.

"People here believe culture has precedence over religion."

Enthusiastic

The Kalash in Chitral have four festivals to celebrate the seasons.

The summer festival is the most well attended with people coming from all over the country and the world.

This year there are fewer foreign visitors, but they are present. Among them is Glasgow resident Patricia Fort with her son Leon.

"This is the second time I have come here...this time to show it to my son," she said.

Her son Leon is equally enthusiastic.

"I got to know about this place from my mother, heard all the stories about the Kalash, saw pictures and knew I had to come," he said.

"The scenery is incredibly beautiful, and the people are very friendly."

Dangers

But now a shadow lies over the event as the security forces are deployed to fend off the Taliban.

Checkpoints litter the road leading to the festival venue and local hospitals have been put on red alert.

"There is a rumour going around that the Taliban will attack the festival," Dr Jahangir Khan, medical officer at a local hospital said.

"There is the situation in Dir, and we are just across the border from Afghanistan.

"We have been put on 24-hour emergency standby for as long as the festival lasts."

The Kalash continued with their festival despite the dangers.

In a region wracked by conflict, their simple ways seem like echoes from another time.

Beautiful women adorned in black robes splattered with bright colours and with necklaces of sparkling stones dance to ancient tunes.

The music is played by the men who occasionally break out in song.

"They are singing of their happiness to God," says Munir, a Kalash man.

"They are thankful that water is plentiful in the rivers and crops are ripening.

"The trees are bearing fruit and prosperity is coming to our homes."

But how much longer the Kalash community can sing of the joys of life is open to doubt. The Taliban are not now that far away.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8083048.stm#story

Indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities of Pakistan (Book)

Indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities of Pakistan: Constitutional and
Legal Perspective
By
Shaheen Sardar Ali, Javaid Rehman

The title of book is very elaborative and describes the contents of the book; book is available to read online.

Peace Walk held at Chitral under LAFH

Peace Walk held at Chitral under LAFH
January 01, 2011

CHITRAL: The Legal Aid Forum for Human Rights Chitral (LAFH) arranged for a peace walk at Chitral. The walk started from town hall where social workers belongings to all walks of life together and preceded a peace walk carrying placards and banners with the messages of peace in the world. The peace walk was leading by Abdul Nasir President Legal aid Forum for Human Rights Chitral a local non governmental organization working for the entire humanity of Chitral on volunteer basis and on self help basis. Addressing on the occasion the speakers stressed upon maintaining of peace in the world and especially in our motherland. They said that a country and nation can develop only when there is peaceful environment. They stressed upon on every citizen to play vital role in maintaining of peace in the country so as to track the nation on right path of development and enhance life standard of our people. They also condemned drone attacks in the country causing for killing children and innocent people. Those who spoke during the rally and peace walk were Professor Muhammad Dost, Barzangi Khan a minority member from Kalash community, Qimat Nazim Baig social worker, Abdul Nasir President Legal aid Forum for Human Rights and Arshad Javed member District Bar association Chitral. A large number of people belongs to all walks of life participated in peace walk which was ended in front of Press club Chitral.

(Source: G.H. Farooqi PO box No. 50 GPO Chitral Pakistan phone NO. 03025989602, 0943-302295, 414418, Email: gulhamad@gmail.com, gulhamadfarooqui@yahoo.com
http://www.groundreport.com/Business/Peace-Walk-held-at-Chitral-under-LAFH/2932467)