Gilgit-Baltistan to participate in Shandur Polo Festival
Ali Hussain
Peshawar: Gilgit-Baltistan has decided to end its boycott of Shandur Polo Festival, the three-day sporting event held every year at the world highest polo ground located in Chitral, a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
It is to be mentioned here that last year Gilgit-Baltistan stayed away from the internationally acclaimed Shandur Polo Festival, due to the lingering row over the ownership of the ground and meadows of Shandur. Gilgit-Baltistan claims ownership of the ground and pastures, saying that these had been integral part of Gilgit-Baltistan since British era.
Member reconciliation committee, Sardar Hussain, said on Wednesday that Gilgit-Baltistan had decides to end the boycott of the festival and would participate in the event. Sardar, who is a local PPP leader from chitral, said GB decided to end its boycott of the event after successful negotiations between the reconciliation committees of GB and Chitral. The three-day sporting festival is held every year during the second week of July at Shandur, the world’s highest polo ground located at 12,000 feet above the sea level. The main feature of the festival is the free-style polo match between the teams of Gilgit and Chitral.
Besides exciting polo matches, the festival also features folk music, dancing, horse back riding, mountaineering, hiking and exploring, attracting large numbers of tourists from across the country and abroad. Besides the festival, the picturesque valley of chitral offers great attractions for the tourists amid its exemplary peace and tranquility. The valley also houses the pre animist pagan tribe of Kalash people, who are believed to be the descendants the army of Alexander the Great.
Courtesy: TNT
Hi Mr. Chitrali,
I refer your article published in the Pamir time saying that Shandoor polo ground come under the Jurisdiction of KPK, which is totally base less and share prove of fallacy and Basie grounds.’ I would like to remind you that under the survey of Pakistan assessment the whole watershed come under the Jurisdiction of the Gilgit-Baltistan.
However the ill advice and expansionism design of KPK Government let the chitral force to construct their temporarily shelters in Shandoor and by default the Gilgit-Baltistan area and with passage of the time, the temporarily shelters convert into settlement which in any case considered a totally occupation into inter provinces.
The land of Gilgit-Baltistan specifically the indigenous permanent settlers of upper Gupis district Ghizer secondly it know fact that the permanent inhabitants of Shandoor community that is Teru Barsat and Gulakmuli receives tax from the herders of swat Valley for the last 100 years. So please careful next time
chitral is not a part of G.B.. shandur belongs to Gilgits.. The real fighters who swept away the Indian Dogra army from all the region of Gilgit…. As shandur is near to chitral and chitralis play polo on shandur does not mean Shandur is yours.. it is a part of gilgit .. thanks