THE Shandur polo festival is again in the news. This time the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunl(hwa has been trapped in mire. After a seminar in Peshawar some irrelevant elements from Peshawar and Gilgit have changed the dates of the Shandur festival.
The new schedule is Aug 18 to 20. In August, there will be duststorm in Shandur and the scenic beauty will no longer be there. As the holy month of Ramazan starts from June 19, the suitable time for the Shandur polo festival is June 6 to 8.
As far as the alleged underhand deal between some elements in Gilgit and Peshawar is concerned, this will create unrest among the people. There will never be sharing of the festival arrangements between the two districts. Chitral will always be the sole host because it has been playing host for the last 85 years.
The participation of players from Gilgit was never a part of the Shandur festival.
This only started during the rule of Gen Zia.
The Shandur festival can be successfully held without players from Gilgit and we wish this happened. I would like to recall the comments of ANP minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain on July 9, 2012, when he said: `Weshall not give up a single inch of our land to anybody else.` Shandur will remain an integral part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Irrelevant people from Peshawar and Gilgit have no right to dictate their terms and conditions to the owners of Shandur.
