Postponement of Shandur festival challenged in high court
MINGORA (SWAT): A social activist has challenged the postponement of the annual Shandur polo festival in Upper Chitral at the eleventh hour.
Taking up the petition filed by Pir Mukhtar and after hearing arguments by his counsel Sher Zaman Khan, a two-member bench of the high court, comprising Justices Muhammad Naaem Akhtar and Shahid Khan, summoned the chief secretary and the secretary tourism of Khyber Pakthunkhwa.
The festival is usually held from July 7 to 9 every year, but this year the three-day mega event was scheduled to be held from June 28 to 30.
The district administration of Upper Chitral and the Khyber Pakthunkhwa Tourism Department had put in place all the arrangements while players had transported their horses to the highest polo ground of the world when the government on June 24 announced to postpone the festival citing inclement weather.
Each player pays about Rs80,000 to truckers for transporting their horses to the venue at least two weeks before the start of the festival.
Moreover, traders set up stalls by transporting their goods to the area and reached the venue five days before the commencement of the festival. However, this year they returned without earning a penny. The traders said a mini-truck charged them Rs60,000 for the round trip.
Local people said bad weather was not the reason to postpone the festival, as there was neither rain nor any unusual flooding in nullahs on way to Shandur.
They said the PTI, which is in power in KP province, had planned to use the mega event as an opportunity to highlight the imprisonment of its founder and former prime minister Imran Khan and demand his release.
They said t-shirts (printed with Qaidi No 804) were to be worn by its workers as well as some players bedsides sloganeering in support of Khan during the festival.
The local people especially traders and stallholders have demanded that the government should announced a fresh date for the festival or compensate the players and vendors for their losses due to the abrupt postponement of the festival.