“Did General Musharraf ever come to your house? How much ‘Da’ did he drink!’ people in Kalash would ask Parwana, the son of Shahzada Khan, a local influential, whose friendship with the General was the origin of an epic tale in the valley. ‘Da’ is a locally made refined wine, made in the homes of Kalash Valley, from grapes. Shahzada Khan is the best wine maker in the valley.
General Pervez Musharraf frequented the Kalash valley, and he visited the home of Shahzada Khan with his family twice after becoming the Chief of Army Staff. In the tiny village of Karakul in Bumburet Valley, General Musharraf would come to visit his friend Shahzada Khan.
General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s textbook tin pot military dictator, who died last week during self-exile in Dubai, can be remembered as a dictator, or a despot for a majority in the rest of the country, but the people of Chitral and specially Kalash Valley remember him more fondly.
The legendary love that Pervez Musharraf had for Chitral goes back to the days when he was a two-star General, and religiously visited Shandur to watch the annual Polo Festival that takes place in July every year.
This is how General Pervez Musharraf fell in love with the scenic north of the country. He had a deep affection for breathtaking Kalash and its three valleys - Bumburet, Rumbur and Birir. Over that time, he developed a deep friendship with the people of Kalash.
Kalashi people, who approximately number between 3,800 to 4,000 in the three valleys, exist amidst many myths, preconceptions and biases and against them outside the valley, and among sections of non-Kalash communities.
The Kalashi populace practice their own centuries old culture, customs and religion, since time immemorial. They do not get married in the same family or clan until seven generations have passed.
There have been conversions of Kalash people in recent decades. Those converted among Kalash people still live in the same family, in the same houses with their kin, practicing ancient Kalash religion. The Kalasha have proven themselves as the most tolerant and pluralistic people, from a land that resembles heaven on earth.
General Pervez Musharraf’s love for the Kalash Valley and the rest of Chitral was assessed when he took the reins of power in the country through a coup d’état. His time proved that his love for the Kalash Valley was true.
As a gift of his friendship, he presented to the people of Chitral the Lowari Tunnel, stretching across 10.4 kilometers in the Hindu Kush mountains between Dir and Chitral. It is a landmark which the people of Chitral and Kalash Valleys associate with General Musharraf, and remember him fondly for.
Before the construction of Lowari Tunnel, the arduous journey back home was a nightmarish odyssey for the people of Chitral. The people of Chitral had to travel back to Chitral from Peshawar, through Afghanistan via Jalalabad, as all routes were closed whenever there was severe snowy weather.
Through October to December, when all of Chitral is covered with snow, Kalash valley also is cut off from the rest of the world. The only way to reach Chitral used to be from Afghanistan. There were also risks to one’s life involved in this journey, such as looting, attacks and injury. The government of Pakistan negotiated with the Afghan government for special documentation for Chitrali people if they opted for such an arduous journey.
“General Pervez Musharraf will always be remembered by Chitralis as long as the Lowari Tunnel exists,” says Parwana.
Poets in the local Kalash language have composed poetry about Pervez Musharraf.
“By the decree of Musharraf, the land of Kalash became heaven on earth,” one of these verses goes.
The Musharraf regime also restrained preaching groups from coming to Kalash valley and attempting to convert the people of Kalash, and put in place measures to prevent outsiders from harassing local Kalash women.
“General Pervez Musharraf realized that people and their culture in Kalash Valley are under great risk of extinction. So, his government took a number of efforts to preserve the culture of Kalash on one hand, and encourage tourism to the Valley on the other,” says a local in an interview on WhatsApp.
Pervez Musharraf is widely credited for another landmark, which is a state of the art hospital that his regime built in Chitral. Previously, MP Bhandara, the owner of Murree Brewery, gifted the people of Kalash a high school in the valley.
“For Musharraf’s predecessors, Kalash was a land occupied by herders of goats and their small flocks,” says Parwana, the resident of Kalash, who now lives in the US. He says there are currently only 5 people, including him, from Kalash in the US.
The Lowari Tunnel project was in the offing since the era of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, but it was drowned in paperwork; it was Pervez Musharraf who fulfilled his promise with the people of Chitral.
Pervez Musharraf also supported the people of Kalash for the right to go to their places of worship. Before Musharaff’s regime, Kalashi people had their worship spaces confined to their homes.
The people pleaded with him to contest elections from Chitral in the last held general elections in 2018, but he excused himself, it is said.
Chitral is plunged into grief as its people mourn the death of the former military ruler.
General Pervez Musharraf frequented the Kalash valley, and he visited the home of Shahzada Khan with his family twice after becoming the Chief of Army Staff. In the tiny village of Karakul in Bumburet Valley, General Musharraf would come to visit his friend Shahzada Khan.
General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s textbook tin pot military dictator, who died last week during self-exile in Dubai, can be remembered as a dictator, or a despot for a majority in the rest of the country, but the people of Chitral and specially Kalash Valley remember him more fondly.
The legendary love that Pervez Musharraf had for Chitral goes back to the days when he was a two-star General, and religiously visited Shandur to watch the annual Polo Festival that takes place in July every year.
This is how General Pervez Musharraf fell in love with the scenic north of the country. He had a deep affection for breathtaking Kalash and its three valleys - Bumburet, Rumbur and Birir. Over that time, he developed a deep friendship with the people of Kalash.
Kalashi people, who approximately number between 3,800 to 4,000 in the three valleys, exist amidst many myths, preconceptions and biases and against them outside the valley, and among sections of non-Kalash communities.
The Kalashi populace practice their own centuries old culture, customs and religion, since time immemorial. They do not get married in the same family or clan until seven generations have passed.
There have been conversions of Kalash people in recent decades. Those converted among Kalash people still live in the same family, in the same houses with their kin, practicing ancient Kalash religion. The Kalasha have proven themselves as the most tolerant and pluralistic people, from a land that resembles heaven on earth.
General Pervez Musharraf’s love for the Kalash Valley and the rest of Chitral was assessed when he took the reins of power in the country through a coup d’état. His time proved that his love for the Kalash Valley was true.
As a gift of his friendship, he presented to the people of Chitral the Lowari Tunnel, stretching across 10.4 kilometers in the Hindu Kush mountains between Dir and Chitral. It is a landmark which the people of Chitral and Kalash Valleys associate with General Musharraf, and remember him fondly for.
Before the construction of Lowari Tunnel, the arduous journey back home was a nightmarish odyssey for the people of Chitral. The people of Chitral had to travel back to Chitral from Peshawar, through Afghanistan via Jalalabad, as all routes were closed whenever there was severe snowy weather.
Through October to December, when all of Chitral is covered with snow, Kalash valley also is cut off from the rest of the world. The only way to reach Chitral used to be from Afghanistan. There were also risks to one’s life involved in this journey, such as looting, attacks and injury. The government of Pakistan negotiated with the Afghan government for special documentation for Chitrali people if they opted for such an arduous journey.
“General Pervez Musharraf will always be remembered by Chitralis as long as the Lowari Tunnel exists,” says Parwana.
Poets in the local Kalash language have composed poetry about Pervez Musharraf.
“By the decree of Musharraf, the land of Kalash became heaven on earth,” one of these verses goes.
The Musharraf regime also restrained preaching groups from coming to Kalash valley and attempting to convert the people of Kalash, and put in place measures to prevent outsiders from harassing local Kalash women.
“General Pervez Musharraf realized that people and their culture in Kalash Valley are under great risk of extinction. So, his government took a number of efforts to preserve the culture of Kalash on one hand, and encourage tourism to the Valley on the other,” says a local in an interview on WhatsApp.
Pervez Musharraf is widely credited for another landmark, which is a state of the art hospital that his regime built in Chitral. Previously, MP Bhandara, the owner of Murree Brewery, gifted the people of Kalash a high school in the valley.
“For Musharraf’s predecessors, Kalash was a land occupied by herders of goats and their small flocks,” says Parwana, the resident of Kalash, who now lives in the US. He says there are currently only 5 people, including him, from Kalash in the US.
The Lowari Tunnel project was in the offing since the era of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, but it was drowned in paperwork; it was Pervez Musharraf who fulfilled his promise with the people of Chitral.
Pervez Musharraf also supported the people of Kalash for the right to go to their places of worship. Before Musharaff’s regime, Kalashi people had their worship spaces confined to their homes.
The people pleaded with him to contest elections from Chitral in the last held general elections in 2018, but he excused himself, it is said.
Chitral is plunged into grief as its people mourn the death of the former military ruler.