‘UN must take responsibility for preserving Kalash heritage’

Karachi

The Kalash who inhabit the north-western tip of Pakistan in the Hindu Kush Mountains have been there since about 7,000-8,000 BC.

This was disclosed by noted Pakistani artist Muhammad Bugi Ansari, now resident in The Netherlands. Ansari said that these tribes were the ones that were displaced from the areas around Babylon during the Greco-Persian wars and settled in the Wakhan Corridor.

He was addressing journalists at the Karachi Pres Club on Thursday afternoon.

He totally dispelled the oft-quoted view that the Kafirs (as the Kalash are often referred to) were descendants of the Greeks who accompanied Alexander the Great on his forays into the subcontinent, and blamed the US-based National Geographic magazine for having popularised this “wrong” notion, because, he said, the researchers did not have the knowledge or the acumen to carry out methodical research into the history of the area.

He was of the view that the United Nations or one of its affiliates should take responsibility for preserving the cultural and historical identity of the area as also its security.

He enumerated the problems the Kalash were facing at the moment. He said robbers from across the border in Nuristan came and stole the sheep and disposed of them for special occasions. Outsiders, he said, had come and usurped most of Kalash lands.

Sitting next to him was Baleegh Ansari, a former deputy attorney general of Pakistan, who said that massive consecutive floods over the last few years were wreaking havoc with the result that mountain tops were breaking off and sliding into the valley down below to cause destruction of houses and blocking of streams, choking them and thus causing floods. 

He said that of late they had undertaken a programme to plant as many walnut trees as possible in the area. He said that the former Royal family of Chitral were extremely cooperative and helpful in all their endeavours.

Noted journalist Anwar Sen Roy was there and he also suggested that UN agencies should maintain a presence to counter the destruction of floods.

Baleegh Ansari said there were 14 languages spoken in the Kalash region. He was also of the opinion that the UN should take over the Kalash region to preserve its cultural and historical heritage. 

All the speakers were of the view that the people of the area should be facilitated and the locality made self-contained. They said that in case of being cut off by severe rains or floods, it was very difficult for the people of the area to get their daily provisions or essential items.

On a positive note, Ansari said that there were absolutely no problems of religious bias, and despite being surrounded by very orthodox population, the Kalash never reported any religious biases or clashes. 

He said education too was catching up and at the moment the Kalash had produced an advocate, a doctor and an engineer.

A large mural painted by Bugi Ansari was displayed depicting the attires of the Kalash women. The speakers were accompanied by a cute little Kalash girl in the colourful traditional Kalash attire, complete with a headgear of cowry shells.