Shahzada Siraj Ulmulk
Tomorrow 06 Sept 2024, the polo teams of both Chitral and Gilgit are meeting at the Gilgit polo ground for a series of matches to commemorate the Defence Day of Pakistan. To show brotherhood towards each other and for their common love for the game of polo the whole of Gilgit town is already celebrating with their traditional music and dances to welcome the polo players from Chitral and make them feel at home since the past three days.
But 250 Km away from from these rejoicings something else is taking place between the Langer river and the Shandur plateau. Here different match is taking place with more serious consequences for both the people of Chitral and the people of Gilgit. It started yesterday. Tribes of Laspur on the Chitral side and tribes of Ghizer on the Gilgit side have come within eyeball to eyeball to begin a quarrel about the possession of land. In the initial skirmish an ancestral cattle shed belonging to a family of Balim in Laspur had been demolished yesterday by some people from Ghizer.
Today this resulted in a march by the people of Balim to rebuild their cattle shed while the people of Ghizer have given Facebook and WhatsApp calls to the people of their area to start marching to the place of conflict, demolish the disputed cattle shed and forcefully occupy the entire area. A similar Internet call has been given in Laspur telling people that Ghizer people along with their police officials are marching towards the Langer river slopes to forcefully occupy them.
Disputes and claims of such sorts are as old as Shandur itself. In those days such disputes and others like stealing each other\’s cattle or running away with each other\’s wives used to be settled through a fierce polo match on the plateau and ending with handshakes and merrymaking. That\’s how and when Shandur polo took birth.
But seriously speaking, this confrontation between Ghizer (Gilgit) today and Laspur (Chitral) today on the Langer riverbed has all the chances of flaring up into something ugly and distasteful for both GB and Chitral. It must not be taken lightly at all.
On my part I am depending on two remarkable officers who are currently at the helm of police affairs in KP. IG Akhtar Gandapur and DIG Malakand Mohammad Ali. They have the ability to diffuse the situation and they must do so without delay.
Like the good old days let Gilgit and Chitral sort out their disputes on the polo ground of Gilgit tomorrow rather than the river bed of the Langar river today.
The situation needs urgent attention at the highest level in KP as well as GB.
مسلے کو انتہائی ہوشمندی سے حل کرنا ہوگا۔ چترال اور گلگت کے مابین انتہائی قریبی تعلقات رہے ہیں۔ لگتا ہے کہ اس تمام کے پیچھے کوئی بڑی سازش کار فرما ہے۔ دونوں صوبوں کے وزرائے اعلیٰ کو مل بیٹھ کر دونوں پارٹیوں میں اصلاح کی کوشش کرنی چاہیے۔ ہم اہالیان چترال اپنی صدیوں پرانے برادرانہ رشتوں کو قربان کرنے کے متحمل نہیں ہو ڈکتے۔۔