Minister hails Chitralis' tolerance towards Kalash civilization

ISLAMABAD, Feb 7 (APP): Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Senator Pervaiz Rashid said on Friday that people of Chitral were ‘model Pakistanis’ as they have shown exemplary tolerance by preserving the Kalash civilization.  After administering oath of office to newly-elected office-bearers of Chitral Press Club here, he said that Chitrali people had preserved the centuries-old civilization despite the fact that it belonged to non-Muslim culture. He said that it was responsibility of the government to provide road access to its people living in far-flung areas and completion of Lowari tunnel would solve the problem once for all. He said that the construction of all-weather road link with Chitral would not only benefit the people of the area but will help Pakistan earn foreign exchange as it would attract more foreign tourists to the region. The minister said Radio Pakistan would be directed to give travel advisory for the people of Chitral during winter so that they can avoid harsh weather conditions at Lowari top. He also agreed to the demand that Radio Pakistan should play its role in promotion of Chitrali language. Earlier MNA Shahzada Iftikharuddin said that Chitral constituted about 23 per cent of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province but it had been neglected in development works. He said Chitral was major tourist attraction due to the Kalash culture but unavailability of all-weather road link was a hurdle in way of tourists.  ]]>