Tourists throng Chitral - Chilimjusht festival:

The News - CHITRAL: The spring festival, Chilimjusht, got underway in three Kalash valleys as foreign and domestic tourists thronged Chitral to witness the three-day event.

The tourists have reached the three Kalash valleys of Birir, Rumbur and Bumburet or trying to reach there. The hotels in the Chitral city have received a large number of tourists.Meanwhile, the district coordination officer Rehmatullah Wazir through a notification directed the police not to allow the foreign and local tourists to visit the venues for the festival apparently for security reasons.

The representatives of the Kalash community including Muhammad Wazir, Abdul Khaliq and Oshor Qazi expressed concern over the directives.Talking to The News, they said that local and foreign tourists had booked hotels two months back for the Chilimjusht festival. “If the tourists are not allowed to visit the places of festival, nobody will come again which will not only affect the economic condition of the Kalash people, but also the whole district,” feared Muhammad Wazir.

They suggested to the authorities to deploy police on Dobash road leading to Kalash valleys and on the hilltops near Jushtakhans where the festival was being held. They said better security measures would ensure that there is no untoward incident. Even otherwise, they stressed that the Kalash valleys have traditionally been peaceful.

Posted in: Chitral