Archive for May 31st, 2008
Tom and Jenny wedlocked in Chipursan
By: Sultan Ahmed
The Wakhi tradition of marriage is unique and has its own beauty. For centuries, this tradition has been kept alive. There is general feeling that because of globalization, all traditions are affected and wakhi tradition is not an exception to that. To the contrary, it was interesting to note that two foreigners traveled all the way from their home country to the Chipursan valley and got married in the traditional way.
They lived in two separate houses and had the traditional wedding dresses. Jenny was wearing shalwar kameez and embroidered ladies cap. She had covered her body with Dupatta and shawl. Tom was wearing white shalwar kameez and the traditional woolen garment called Chuga (bet in wakhi). He was also wearing the turban on his head. Traditional food was prepared and served to all guests coming from different parts of Chipursan valley. It is important to mention that before the advent of vehicles, the bride and groom would use horses to get to their destination but nowadays it is not the common practice because of vehicles.
However, Tom and Jeneey revived that tradition and used horses to travel between the two houses. Jenny was aware that whenever a lady leaves her house at marriage, she cries to show her attachment to her parents and other family members. Therefore she respected this norm as some tears appeared on her cheek while she was originating from the house.
According to the tradition, all male guests got opportunity to dance on the beat of trio band. A polo match was also played as part of the celebrations. This was an interesting and unique event in the history of Chiprusan.
8 comments May 31, 2008
Two students from Passu qualified for national level art competition
Hunza, May 31: Two school students from Passu have qualified for the national level Golden Jubilee Art Competition titled “”Friends of the environment” to be held on June 8 at PC Hotel, Lahore. The competition has been organised by Aga Khan Planning and Building Services, Pakistan with the collaboration of Ismaili Tariqah and Religious Education Board for Pakistan and Ismaili Council for Pakistan.
Ejaz Ali son of Haqiqat Ali is a 9th class student of Al-Amyn Model School Gulmit and is among the 3 young artist from Hunza region to qualify for national level competition. Fazil Aman son fo Nadir Aman has qualified from Gilgit sub-division. Both artists will participate the national level competition along with their parents. Iqbal Sadruddin Waljis, President, Ismaili National Council for Pakistan is expected to be the Chief Guest of the final event.
The jury for the regional level competition was comprised of Professor Nazish Attaullah, Principal National College of Arts (NCA), Qadoos, Asst. Professor NCA and Rumana Hussain, a famous writer and artist.
20 comments May 31, 2008
Scouts received warm welcome at Ahmedabad
Hunza, May 31: The Scouts from Gojal have received a very warm welcome in Ahmedabad, the first camping village of the 6-days adventure walk along the historical pony track. The scouts from the village and local community have extented a warm reception near the village bridge by showering flowers on guest Scouts.
The scouts were offered juices and Zharz Tibaq (Broom hunik) just ater their arrival in the village. The local scouts and community have installed camps for the guest Scouts and also offered lunch, dinner and breakfast.
According to last moment reports, campfire is in progress. A large number of local Scouts and elders are also participating the campfire. The media team of Scouts will interview the local elders about their expereices and oral traditions regarding the historical pony track. They will also show, the interviews of elders from Gulmit taken during the opening ceremony of the walk.
Tommorow the Scouts will continue the walk along Altit, Karimabad, Aliabad, Hassanabad villages and camp at Murtazaabad.
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Govt urged to clarify report about Osama’s presence at K2
Forwarded by: Didar Hunzai
ISLAMABAD, May 29: An internationally-renowned Pakistani mountaineer has asked the government to publicly contradict a media report about the alleged presence of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Karakurum mountain range, an allegation that can badly damage the economy of the Northern Areas by scaring away foreign and local visitors from the region during tourist season.
Nazir Sabir, the first Pakistani mountaineer to conquer Everest who also heads the Alpine Club, warned on Thursday that the report of an Arabic television network attributed to an unnamed source who alleged that Osama was present in the Karakurum mountain range needed to be immediately clarified by the Foreign Office in strong words.
The appearance of such baseless news item when our mountain tourism season is about to start and a number of expedition teams have made their final arrangements to reach Pakistan for their onward destination to Karakurum and its surrounding mountain ranges is most damaging to our fragile tourism at the very outset of the season, he said.
“This news item can be as baseless and outrageous as someone claiming to have spotted a person hiding in a cave on moon,” he observed.
It is most unfortunate that some of the local and international media is often associating terrorist activities taking place along the Pak-Afghan border to the Northern Areas out of their sheer ignorance and total lack of knowledge. They are not aware of the fact that the Northern Areas is over 500km away from the troubled Afghan border area.
This seems to be a planned conspiracy by some vested interests who are enemies of the peaceful people of the Northern Areas and they do not want to see Pakistan heading towards normalcy while gaining confidence of our international clients to visit Pakistan, Mr Sabir said.
“Our mountain region of Gilgit and Baltistan is known for peace and tranquillity and remains extremely peaceful even during the most disturbed times elsewhere,” he observed. (Courtesy: Daily Dawn)
3 comments May 31, 2008
Scouts begin walk along historical pony track
Hunza, May 31: The Ismaili Boy Scouts have started a 6-days Adventure and Environment walk from Gulmit, Gojal to Gilgit city, along the historical pony track. The walk is organized by Gulmit Boy Scouts Group, to celebrate the 100 years of world scouting and commemorate the Golden Jubilee celebrations of His Highness, Prince Karim Aga Khan.
A mega event was organised, in the premises of F.G. Boys High School Gulmit, to open the walk activities and give farewell to scouts. A large number of scouts, community notables and parents participated the event. The speakers said that Scouting is playing the role of nursery organisation in producing dynamic leaders for civil society.
About 55 scouts of age group 17-25 years from different villages will walk about 170 km long track to reach Gilgit city. The Scouts will camp and held gatherings with elders and youth in Ahmedabad, Murtazabad, Hussainabad and Nomal villages to exchange historical experiences and oral traditions about hardships an difficulties in travelling and communication in the region. The scouts will also participate in the activities of world environment day and create awareness about AIDS, drug abuses and other issues.
This historical pony track was constructed during 1897– 1901 after the Hunza state fell under the British rule in December 1891. This track improved travelling to these lonely mountain gorges and the traditions hidden in these valleys for centuries was exposed to external world. Later on, the construction of a jeepable road during 1957 and KKH during 1978 connected the region with other parts of the world.
The vision of the walk is to use youth as a change force to harness unity, peace and development in the region and create awareness about the promotion and preservation of historical heritages and oral traditions with fun and pleasurable experiences. The walk will also offer an adventure for the youth and explore a potential tracking route for the tourists. It will also provide first hand historical and cultural information to youth from elders.
The Scouts will also visit Chinar Bagh Gilgit, to pay tributes to the heroes of the Gilgit-Baltistan independence from Dogra Raj. The closing ceremony will be held at Shah Karim Hostel Gilgit on June 5 in order to link the day with the celebrations World environmental Day.
8 comments May 31, 2008
Pony Track from Gilgit to Kilik Pass
(The Scouts from Gojal have started adventure walk along the pony track from Gulmit to Gilgit, which is part of the greater historical Gilgit to Kilik Pony track. The below write up provides facts and figures about the track documented by Aga Khan Cultural Services, Pakistan (AKCSP), presented in Culture and Heritages section of www.gojal.net. (……Zulfiqar……)
The historical pony track is dated back to 1897 after Hunza valley fell under the British rule during December 1891. The British started to protect the frontiers of the valley in order to sustain its power on subcontinent. Due to the geo-political position along the Wakhan corridor and China, the area was significant in stopping the Chinese and Russian from invading.
The track continued from Kashmir to Gilgit-Baltistan which was further leading to Tibet and Ladakh. From Gilgit to Hunza valleys last border in the north constructed for the easy deployment of the forces and improvement in the communication line in order to get fresh updates on the movement of the forces on the other side of the border. This track improved traveling to these lonely mountain gorges the traditions hidden in these valleys for centuries was exposed to the other cultures of the time. The construction of the pony track was initiated by the local community under the supervision of the local chiefdoms of the region in 1897 and was completed in 1901 and it was inaugurated during the visit of the field Marshal Earl Kitchner of Khartoum in August 1902.
This historic route is constructed horizontally on the mountain slopes of the Hunza valley located in the Karakoram Range. The tracks top most side is located in Kilik at an elevation of 4709 meters connecting it with China and Afghan Pamir and Central Asia. The track steepest point is located between Misgar and Mintika. The steep slope levels at Sost (2700m) and it remains level till Khyber and the level of track falls at Passu (2540m) and with the slight difference in the level it continues till Gulmit 2450m.
The level of the track remains consistent till Karimabad with the slight differenceit continues till Murtazaabad, the end of central Hunza. The level of track decreases in lower Hunza and drops as it reaches 1600 meters in Khizarabad, the last settlement of lower Hunza. The difficult terrains on the track in the lower Hunza is located between Mayoon, Nasirabad and Murtazaabad where the tracks are constructed on the steepest sliding slop. The difficult portion in central Hunza lies between Ahmedabad and Sarat,. The most difficult part of the track where the craftsmanship of the era is dominant lies between Sarat and Gulmit. The track crosses Batura glacier at Passu and remains level till Sost, the base of the Klik Mountain.
The construction was unique due to the construction technique as wooden, iron nails are fixed on the mountain slopes and beams are laid to support the retaining walls constructed on top, which is a flat plateform prepared for the human and animal traffic. Small bridges at the narrow points connect teh gorges ansd streams. Before this track the lowest point along the river was used for traffic of people and animals.Due to the construction of the jeep road in 1960 to Hunza and the KKH in 1979, the use of this track declined. Due to absence of maintenance and weathering, denudation and human intervention the track started disappearing. Due t mud flow and sliding the track has totally lost and washed at many places. The most valueable portion of the routes about 11km in length, lies between Sarat and Gulmit, which can be easily preserved. This portion also contains the tower erected in memory of Field Marshal Earl Kitchener of Khartoum August 1902 visit.
1 comment May 31, 2008
The WALK Begins
Gulmit, May 31: Today more than sixty boys scouts from villages under the jurisdiction of Gulmit Council started the six days walk from Gulmit – Gilgit. Advance party, comprising of Mubarak (Passu), Fazal (Hussaini), Karim (Ghulkin) and Zeeshan Ali, Akram Shah, Amin Ullah (Gulmit) talked to Pamir Times on phone, informing us of their departure from Gulmit Polo Ground, at around six thirty in the early morning.
Yesterday, afternoon, the walk was officially opened in a simple, yet impressive, gathering at the Gulmit Polo Ground. The scouts will walk all the way from Gulmit to Gilit city, covering a distance of more than 150 kilometers, under the shades of the gigantic mountains of Karakuram and Himalaya ranges.
Pamir Times offers support and prayers for the scouts who want to create awareness about the environment, promote volunteerism, inspire the youth for community participation, and spread the message of progress, peace and love to all communities of Gilgit – Baltisan and the entire global society. The walk is also part of celebrating the centenial ceremonies of global scouting movement started by Lord Baden Powell, in the early twentieth century.
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