Kalash kidnappings

The violence directed — so we assume — against the Kalash people of the Bumburate Valley of Chitral continues. A group of masked and armed men, thought to be a part of the Afghan Taliban, are reported to have taken away 60 labourers engaged to clear a forest in the area. About 50 other men were left behind, seemingly because the kidnappers lacked time. The motives for the action are mysterious. At least some of the labourers were apparently Muslim. The purpose may be to exact revenge on people of the area, who had raised a ‘lashkar’ to clear the area of Taliban. This, though, is mere conjecture. No one is likely to pay ransom for the abducted men or exchange detained militants for them. This, it was thought, was the reason for the kidnapping last year of a Greek national Athanasius, who was taken away from the same area and released in April 2010, after around six months in militant captivity. It is believed a ransom may have been paid and the Greek government had kept up pressure for his release. In the case of the labourers there is unlikely to be anyone who has the influence to seek their freedom. They are, after all, poor citizens of our own country.

The latest audacious act of abduction demonstrates how insecure the life of the Kalash people is. There is a possibility that the purpose may be to try and convert any non-Muslims to Islam. The role of the Afghan Taliban adds a new dimension to the efforts on for years to strip the Kalash of their unique culture and a religion that dates back centuries. The commercialisation of their traditions adds to the blatant exploitation of the people. We have before us the merciless decimation of a way of life — and as this vanishes it is Pakistan that is left the poorer.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2010.