Reps want Laspur people taken into confidence on Shandur festival

CHITRAL: The residents on Wednesday urged the government to take the people of Laspur valley into confidence to make the Shandur Polo Festival 2016 a success.

Speaking at a press conference, member of tehsil council from Shandur Jamaluddin said that it was necessary to prevent any controversy over the ownership of the highest polo ground in the world.

Flanked by Laspur village nazim Azam Khan and others, he said that the officers from Gilgit-Baltistan demolished the houses and other structures of the people of Chitral in Shandur. He said that the action annoyed the residents.

He said the people of Laspur would offer resistance if anyone tried to grab an inch of the land belonging to them.  The resident said that a representative of Laspur should present the charter of demands in the opening ceremony of the festival.

He said that anyone from Gilgit-Baltistan including its chief minister would not be allowed to present the charter of demands. “The people of Laspur would not let the chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan address the opening ceremony if our representative was not allowed to present the charter of demands,” he added.