Kalash community battles tourism deluge

[ghazi52]

Kalash community battles tourism deluge
June 11, 2019

A KALASH woman wearing a traditional dress takes a selfie with her friends during a break as they celebrate ‘Joshi’, a festival to welcome the arrival of spring, at Bumburate village.—AFP

BUMBURATE: In a remote valley dozens of Kalash women dance to celebrate spring’s arrival — but as a gaggle of men scramble to catch them on camera, the community warns an influx of domestic tourists is threatening their unique traditions.

Every year the Kalash — a group of less than 4,000 people confined to a handful of villages in the north — greet the new season with animal sacrifices, baptisms and weddings at a festival known as Joshi.

As celebrations kick off, tourists with phones jostle to get close to Kalash women, whose vibrant clothing and headdresses contrast starkly with the more modest attire worn by many in the country.

“Some people are using their cameras as if they were in a zoo,” said local tourist guide Iqbal Shah.

Known for their pale skin and light-coloured eyes, the Kalash have long claimed ancestral links to Alexander the Great’s army — who conquered the region in the fourth century BC.

They worship many deities, drinking alcohol is a tradition and marriages of choice are the norm.

Over the years, the Kalash have become one of the smallest religious minorities in Pakistan

However, the community is far from a liberal beacon. Members of the community often wed in their teens, with women poorly educated and expected to perform traditional roles in the home.

Stories about the Kalash are nonetheless frequently fabricated, and this has been amplified in recent years by the proliferation of smartphones and social media.

Defaming the community

One video viewed 1.3 million times on YouTube proclaims the Kalash “openly have sex” with partners of their choosing “in the presence of their husbands”.

Another calls them “beautiful infidels”, saying “anyone can go and marry any girl there”.

“How could that be true?” asks Luke Rehmat, a Kalash journalist.

“People are systematically trying to defame the community. They are fabricating stories ... when a tourist comes with such a mindset, he will try to experience [it].”

In the main Kalash village of Bumburate, a hotel manager estimates that about 70 per cent of local tourists visiting his establishment are young men, who often inquire about where to “find girls”.

According to tourists — most of whom were men travelling in groups — their primary interest in exploring the Kalash Valley was to learn about a new culture.

“We want to be part of this festival but it doesn’t mean that we want to mix up with girls,” says tourist Sikander Nawaz Khan Niazi from Lahore.

But friction has been increasing in recent years.

In Bumburate, posters now call on visitors to seek permission from villagers before photographing and signs warn tourists not to harass women.

“If they don’t respect us, we don’t need tourists,” says Yasir Kalash, the vice president of the local hotels association.

“If they respect ... our culture and traditions, we must welcome [them].”

Regulating tourism is a cumbersome but vital task for the Kalash, with money from the industry increasingly providing an important source of revenue for the community.

We are going to die

The Kalash — who once inhabited a vast territory stretching from the Himalayas in Azad Kashmir to northern Afghanistan — are now one of the smallest religious minorities in Pakistan, according to Akram Hussain, the director of a local museum.

A recent survey put their number at just 3,872, living in three remote valleys.

“We are going to die if we are not supported,” says Hussain.

Kalash traditions, Hussain argues, can be expensive. Weddings and funerals require families to kill dozens of animals for the festivities, driving them into debt, forcing them to sell off land and leave their ancestral homes.

Cases of forced conversions to Islam of Kalash women have also been reported, while the increase in tourism has pushed some in the community to shun traditions like Joshi, according to several residents.

Others have begun wearing veils to hide their faces from the prying eyes of outsiders.

“We don’t wear veils as it is not our custom, but some wear them because people take pictures of them from all sides and it makes them feel ashamed,” says Musarrat Ali, a high school student.

The ongoing erosion of the culture at the hands of outside forces is tragic, says Sayed Gul, an archaeologist from Bumburate.

“They don’t want to participate just because of these cameras and this insensitivity,” says Gul.

“If these things are continuously happening ... maybe in a few years, there are only tourists, there are no more Kalashis to participate and dance in the festivals.”

 

[Well.wisher]

I wish to go there too ..wear that dress nd take selfies.

 

[ghazi52]

The Kalash People: The Lost Blonde Hair and Blue Eye Tribe of Alexander the Great in Pakistan

by Moe

In the back country of Pakistan, you will find a unique ancient tribe of people who reside in the Chitral District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. What makes them unique to most Pakistanis is the fact that many people in the tribe have blonde hair and blue eyes. Let me also add that they claim to descend from Greece in the time of Alexander the Great.



It is no secret that Alexander the Great had conquered these lands over 2,000 year ago and had occupied the mountains of northern Pakistan in which he would sow the seeds of a tribe that lives on to this very day. Many experts, scientists and authors agree that the Kalash Tribes shows all the signs, rites, history and possibly the DNA of the ancient Greeks.

For example, in 2014, the New York Times reported that “The Kalash people of Pakistan were found to have chunks of DNA from an ancient European population. Statistical analysis suggests a mixing event before 210 B.C., possibly from the army of Alexander the Great.” Here is a DNA map from the NY Times article showing the possible influx of DNA into the Pakistani region.




A recent study prepared by Thessaloniki’s Aristotle University English Language Department assistant professor Elisavet Mela-Athanasopoulou shows the common elements shared by the language of the Kalash ethnic group in the Himalayas and Ancient Greek. The study proved common elements shared by Kalash language and Ancient Greek.

Who are the Kalash?




The Kalasha (Kalasha: Kaĺaśa, Nuristani: Kasivo) or Kalash, are a Dardic indigenous people residing in the Chitral District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. They speak the Kalasha language, from the Dardic family of the Indo-Iranian branch, and are considered a unique tribe among the Indo-Iranian peoples of Pakistan.

There are an estimated 3,000 Kalasha left in this beautiful tribe, and they have maintained their ancient culture and tribal rites for well over 2,000 years. Part of these rites include the making of distilled spirits and smoking marijuana. Rites that would be a death sentence in the religion of Islam. These rites are protected by a fierce tribal leader who enforces strict policies and keeps a watchful eye over his tribe. For example, a leader of the Kalash, Saifulla Jan, has recently stated, “If any Kalash converts to Islam, they cannot live among us anymore. We keep our identity strong.”

A Kalash tribal man, Kazi Khushnawaz was recently quoted saying;

“Long, long ago, before the days of Islam, Sikander e Azam came to India. The Two Horned one whom you British people call Alexander the Great. He conquered the world, and was a very great man, brave and dauntless and generous to his followers. When he left to go back to Greece, some of his men did not wish to go back with him but preferred to stay here. Their leader was a general called Shalakash (i.e.: Seleucus). With some of his officers and men, he came to these valleys and they settled here and took local women, and here they stayed.

We, the Kalash, the Black Kafir of the Hindu Kush, are the descendants of their children. Still some of our words are the same as theirs, our music and our dances, too; we worship the same gods. This is why we believe the Greeks are our first ancestors.”

The Kalash Tribe Connection With the Religion of the Ancient Jews (Phoenicians/Hebrews Greeks)

The tribe dresses in what can be called traditional old orthodox Jewish-style. Kalasha women usually wear long
black robes,

often embroidered with cowrie shells. The children wear their hair in orthodox Jewish-style ringlets and sport bright coloured topi hats. The women sometimes have tattooed faces, wear long black robes with colored embroidery.

The Kalash have no telephone, cars or modern amenities. They make their own bread, clothing, and live from agriculture. They celebrate a week-long Chamos festival with lots of singing, dancing, ritual, feasting and even the sacrifice of a goat.

During this time, the God Balomain (Baal) passes through the valley collecting prayers. Giant bonfire are lit on hills and torches carried by tribal members in honor of this God. They then dance in circles as they sing and chant around the fire just like can be found with the lost tribes of the American Phoenician Hebrew Indians and with the Irish Phoenician Hebrew in Ireland.

The Guardian reported in 2005 that they were a lost tribe who struggles for survival. Here is a quote from the article;

“Turquoise streams rush through leafy glades of giant walnut trees and swaying crops. Clusters of simple houses cling to steep forested slopes. Compared with many compatriots beyond their valleys, the Kalasha are charmingly liberal: drinking wine, holding dancing festivals and worshipping a variety of gods. Women wear intricately beaded headdresses, not burkas, and may choose their husband.”

“For me, the Kalasha are heroes, because they have reached the 21st century still living like their fathers,” said Athanasius Lerounis, a 50-year-old schoolteacher from Athens supervising construction of the centre, which is due to open next month. “We want to help them preserve that.”

In my many other articles on the Lost Tribes such as the Lost Tribe of Judah Found: The Scattered Children of Bab-El, Lost Tribe of Judah Found: The Bedas, and The American Indians and Phoenician Hebrews: 10 Commandments Found in Arizona I detail that many of these same traits such as the dress, food customs, religious rites and tattoos that is common in almost every single tribe that I have researched.

These tribes can be found all over the world from Egypt to India and all the way to Ireland and England in places such as Kent that was once known as the Old Kingdom of Jute which was originally Juteland or the land of the Jutes. Jutland, is regarded as Judah’s land. An adjective for Jute is “Jutish,” pronounced jootish. Kent is an early medieval kingdom said to be founded in the 5th century, in what is now South East England. Julius Caesar invaded the area in 55 and 54 BC, and he referred to the kings here as kings of Cantium.

How did the Kalash maintain their tribal rites and religious customs for over 2,000 years?

Even though the Kalash have kept their culture and maintained their tribal rites, many tribal members have been forcibly converted to Islam by the sword under penalty of death. The remaining tribal members are only the result of being isolated in the Pakistan mountains where they could escape and hide from Islamic crusaders. Professor of Islamic studies, U. Mass Dartmouth; and author, Brian Glyn Williams had recently written and article in the Huffington Post titled, The Lost Children of Alexander the Great: A Journey to the Pagan Kalash People of Pakistan. In it he writes;

“High in the snow-capped Hindu Kush on the Afghan-Pakistani border lived an ancient people who claimed to be the direct descendants of Alexander the Great’s troops. While the neighboring Pakistanis were dark-skinned Muslims, this isolated mountain people had light skin and blue eyes. Although the Pakistanis proper converted to Islam over the centuries, the Kalash people retained their pagan traditions and worshiped their ancient gods in outdoor temples. Most importantly, they produced wine much like the Greeks of antiquity did. This in a Muslim country that forbade alcohol.

Tragically, in the 19th century the Kalash were brutally conquered by the Muslim Afghans. Their ancient temples and wooden idols were destroyed, their women were forced to burn their beautiful folk costumes and wear the burqa or veil, and the entire people were converted at swordpoint to Islam. Only a small pocket of this vanishing pagan race survived in three isolated valleys in the mountains of what would later become Pakistan.”

A 2009 article in the Telegraph explains how this tribe was also recently the targets of the conservative Islamic militant group known as the Taliban. The Telegraph had written:

“The group, believed to be descendants of Alexander the Great’s invading army, were shielded from conservative Islam by the steep slopes of their remote valleys.

While Sikhs, Hindus, and Christians were slowly driven out of Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province by Muslim militants, the Kalash were free to drink their own distilled spirits and smoke cannabis.

 

[B.K.N]

What is so special about this dress it looks strange

wear that dress

 

[ghazi52]

 

[Well.wisher]

What is so special about this dress it looks strange

Traditions are never strange my dear .
They have uniqueness and individuality . Dresses , foods , dance, language all have their individual beauty.

 

[RealNapster]

I wish to go there too ..wear that dress nd take selfies.

Plan your honeymoon as per the timeline so that you get most of your trip... apny kharche pe na jana larkio ko shuba ni deta

 

[Well.wisher]

Plan your honeymoon as per the timeline so that you get most of your trip... apny kharche pe na jana larkio ko shuba ni deta

Lmao .. oky as u say

 

[krash]

Kalash community battles tourism deluge
June 11, 2019

A KALASH woman wearing a traditional dress takes a selfie with her friends during a break as they celebrate ‘Joshi’, a festival to welcome the arrival of spring, at Bumburate village.—AFP

BUMBURATE: In a remote valley dozens of Kalash women dance to celebrate spring’s arrival — but as a gaggle of men scramble to catch them on camera, the community warns an influx of domestic tourists is threatening their unique traditions.

Every year the Kalash — a group of less than 4,000 people confined to a handful of villages in the north — greet the new season with animal sacrifices, baptisms and weddings at a festival known as Joshi.

As celebrations kick off, tourists with phones jostle to get close to Kalash women, whose vibrant clothing and headdresses contrast starkly with the more modest attire worn by many in the country.

“Some people are using their cameras as if they were in a zoo,” said local tourist guide Iqbal Shah.

Known for their pale skin and light-coloured eyes, the Kalash have long claimed ancestral links to Alexander the Great’s army — who conquered the region in the fourth century BC.

They worship many deities, drinking alcohol is a tradition and marriages of choice are the norm.

Over the years, the Kalash have become one of the smallest religious minorities in Pakistan

However, the community is far from a liberal beacon. Members of the community often wed in their teens, with women poorly educated and expected to perform traditional roles in the home.

Stories about the Kalash are nonetheless frequently fabricated, and this has been amplified in recent years by the proliferation of smartphones and social media.

Defaming the community

One video viewed 1.3 million times on YouTube proclaims the Kalash “openly have sex” with partners of their choosing “in the presence of their husbands”.

Another calls them “beautiful infidels”, saying “anyone can go and marry any girl there”.

“How could that be true?” asks Luke Rehmat, a Kalash journalist.

“People are systematically trying to defame the community. They are fabricating stories ... when a tourist comes with such a mindset, he will try to experience [it].”

In the main Kalash village of Bumburate, a hotel manager estimates that about 70 per cent of local tourists visiting his establishment are young men, who often inquire about where to “find girls”.

According to tourists — most of whom were men travelling in groups — their primary interest in exploring the Kalash Valley was to learn about a new culture.

“We want to be part of this festival but it doesn’t mean that we want to mix up with girls,” says tourist Sikander Nawaz Khan Niazi from Lahore.

But friction has been increasing in recent years.

In Bumburate, posters now call on visitors to seek permission from villagers before photographing and signs warn tourists not to harass women.

“If they don’t respect us, we don’t need tourists,” says Yasir Kalash, the vice president of the local hotels association.

“If they respect ... our culture and traditions, we must welcome [them].”

Regulating tourism is a cumbersome but vital task for the Kalash, with money from the industry increasingly providing an important source of revenue for the community.

We are going to die

The Kalash — who once inhabited a vast territory stretching from the Himalayas in Azad Kashmir to northern Afghanistan — are now one of the smallest religious minorities in Pakistan, according to Akram Hussain, the director of a local museum.

A recent survey put their number at just 3,872, living in three remote valleys.

“We are going to die if we are not supported,” says Hussain.

Kalash traditions, Hussain argues, can be expensive. Weddings and funerals require families to kill dozens of animals for the festivities, driving them into debt, forcing them to sell off land and leave their ancestral homes.

Cases of forced conversions to Islam of Kalash women have also been reported, while the increase in tourism has pushed some in the community to shun traditions like Joshi, according to several residents.

Others have begun wearing veils to hide their faces from the prying eyes of outsiders.

“We don’t wear veils as it is not our custom, but some wear them because people take pictures of them from all sides and it makes them feel ashamed,” says Musarrat Ali, a high school student.

The ongoing erosion of the culture at the hands of outside forces is tragic, says Sayed Gul, an archaeologist from Bumburate.

“They don’t want to participate just because of these cameras and this insensitivity,” says Gul.

“If these things are continuously happening ... maybe in a few years, there are only tourists, there are no more Kalashis to participate and dance in the festivals.”

Another propaganda piece by the ever reliable Dawn.

The Kalash — who once inhabited a vast territory stretching from the Himalayas in Azad Kashmir to northern Afghanistan — are now one of the smallest religious minorities in Pakistan, according to Akram Hussain, the director of a local museum.

That never happened. Talk about building a false narrative and a false victim.

One video viewed 1.3 million times on YouTube proclaims the Kalash “openly have sex” with partners of their choosing “in the presence of their husbands”.

Another calls them “beautiful infidels”, saying “anyone can go and marry any girl there”.

“How could that be true?” asks Luke Rehmat, a Kalash journalist.

“People are systematically trying to defame the community. They are fabricating stories ... when a tourist comes with such a mindset, he will try to experience [it].”

While I absolutely abhor the average Pakistani tourist, I wasn't able to find anything of the sort anywhere on the internet. Neither have I ever heard anything of the sort during my years of travel in those regions.


“If they don’t respect us, we don’t need tourists,” says Yasir Kalash, the vice president of the local hotels association.

“If they respect ... our culture and traditions, we must welcome [them].”


Something one cannot expect from the average Pakistani tourist. The Kalash should restrict entry of tourists to their events, which they have all rights too. So should the rest of Pakistan, IMO.

says Musarrat Ali, a high school student.

What a source. Good job Dawn....

The ongoing erosion of the culture at the hands of outside forces is tragic, says Sayed Gul, an archaeologist from Bumburate.

The Kalash are actually pretty protected from "outside forces", even on the government level. Their biggest threat are their own people who have converted to Islam. They still live their in the valleys after being ousted by the Kalash from their villages, and are usually blamed by the Kalash for forcing conversions on them. There is truth to both stories. Neither side is blame free, tbh, not the Kalash nor the Kalash converts. But then the ever encroaching overwhelming invasion from the 'outsider' sells a lot better.

 

[koolio]

Another propaganda piece by the ever reliable Dawn.




That never happened. Talk about building a false narrative and a false victim.



While I absolutely abhor the average Pakistani tourist, I wasn't able to find anything of the sort anywhere on the internet. Neither have I ever heard anything of the sort during my years of travel in those regions.


“If they don’t respect us, we don’t need tourists,” says Yasir Kalash, the vice president of the local hotels association.

“If they respect ... our culture and traditions, we must welcome [them].”


Something one cannot expect from the average Pakistani tourist. The Kalash should restrict entry of tourists to their events, which they have all rights too. So should the rest of Pakistan, IMO.



What a source. Good job Dawn....



The Kalash are actually pretty protected from "outside forces", even on the government level. Their biggest threat are their own people who have converted to Islam. They still live their in the valleys after being ousted by the Kalash from their villages, and are usually blamed by the Kalash for forcing conversions on them. There is truth to both stories. Neither side is blame free, tbh, not the Kalash nor the Kalash converts. But then the ever encroaching overwhelming invasion from the 'outsider' sells a lot better.

Totally agree with you on the above points, Their traditions and culture should be respected, the biggest problem the Kalash people will be facing is a growing number of tourists who are coming there with a lack of accommodation and a danger to the environment where most of the tourists just throw the trash anywhere literally polluting the environment, I have heard Naran and lake Saiful mulook is littered with dirt everywhere its such a shame no priority is given to provide litter bins, educate the public and impose heavy fines who intentionally throw waste anywhere and thus damaging the special nature regions.