Entertainment-starved Buner dwellers enjoy three-day festival

SHAEEDA SAR (BUNER): The long distance and rundown hilly roads failed to deter the entertainment-starved people of Buner, its adjoining districts and other parts of the province to climb onto the top of the steep mountains and have fun at the three-day grand cultural festival that concluded here on Sunday.

The festival titled 'Buner Gul Da Namer' was a great success from every point of view. The participation of the people was amazingly huge. The event was organised at the Shaeeda Sar - a point that is 5,750 feet above sea level and is the meeting point of Buner with Shangla and Torghar districts.

The road leading to the Shaeeda Top was full to its capacity. People on motorbikes, cars, jeeps and every kind of vehicles were seen rushing towards the site where numerous events had been arranged for entertaining the visitors.

The condition of the road was not good. A small patch of nearly five kilometres had been reconstructed by the previous government and the remaining is in rundown condition. However, it was encouraging to know that the provincial minister, Habibur Rahman Khan, who hails from Buner, has managed to approve Rs400 million for the reconstruction of the 45-kilometres road from Sawari, the main town of the district, until Shaeeda Sar.

At the site of the festival, exemplary coordination among the district administration, district government, army and police was witnessed. This was cited as one of the reasons for the success of the festival in such a remote area that lacks basic facilities. Enough efforts had been put in place to arrange every facility for the guests participating in the festival.

The representatives of the district government including the district nazim Dr Ubaidullah Khan, naib nazim Yousaf Ali Khan and officers of the district administration under Deputy Commissioner Zariful Maani were seen busy facilitating the people and even serving them food.

Exemplary arrangements had been made for various events. The volunteers of Zwan Buner - Youth of Buner - had made the arrangements possible. According to the coordinator of Zwan Buner, Engineer Aman Khan, some 250 to 300 volunteers remained busy to make the arrangements. The government's line departments also extended every support to ensure every facility to the visitors.

The ground had been levelled for different stalls, sessions and sporting events. Things for attracting kids had also been arranged in abundance. Swings, slides, trampolines and other items for young participants had been installed at the over-crowded funland at the site where kids were seen having great fun.

The event was inaugurated with a small inaugural ceremony on Friday. Soon afterwards, the sports, educational and recreational events commenced. A music show coupled with beautiful firework on the first night of the event thrilled the people. The fine weather and cold breeze made the event enjoyable.

The fireworks on the top of the mountain were amazing. Almost everyone was seen filming the colourful crackers bursting in the sky. "I like it. I came all the way from Peshawar. The journey was tiresome, but the beautiful weather, nice people and awesome arrangements helped me overcome my exhaustion," Mohammad Ismail Afridi remarked.

Some known singers including Irfan Kamal, Naeem Khan, Jalil Shabnam and Ahmad Khalil entertained the participants with their melodious voices. In the sporting events, volleyball, kabaddi, mukha, tug-of-war and skhey were another source of attraction for the people. The final match of volleyball held on Sunday was witnessed by at least 15,000 people. Faisal Club of Rega village won the final.

A grand mushaira was arranged on the second day of the festival. Prof Abasin Yousafzai was the chief guest while a large number of poets presented their poems. The traditional mukha and skey games provided good entertainment to the people. Sherbali of Girarey village won the mukha competition while the Boys Scouts Team won the skhey tournament. The University of Buner won the final match of kabaddi. The district administration distributed trophies and shields sans any cash prize among the winning teams and participants.

Debates and other competitions among students were also arranged at the festival. The venue of the event is extremely beautiful. It would become a major tourist attraction as provincial Minister for Religious Affairs Habibur Rahman has got approved Rs50 million for establishment of a park there, an official of the district administration told this reporter. "The event had a nationalistic fervour. People from all walks of life irrespective of political and other affiliations participated in the festival," said Zariful Maani, Buner deputy commissioner.

He said the festival was an effort to promote the scenic beauty and archaeological and historic importance of Buner. The success of the festival would certainly contribute to the cause, he added. Another festival would be arranged at Pir Baba soon, he informed.