Daily Times

Pakistan is a peaceful country but unfortunately has always been blamed to support terrorism and hatred in the world. The country is constantly being victimized by the global community.

Various tragic events have caused such a negative image of Pakistan, destabilizing our beautiful nation. As responsible citizen of our precious homeland, we need to be worried because the world’s perception of Pakistan is fallacious; the world is projecting a flawed image of Pakistan which is far from reality. This thought seems unendurable. To reveal the true face of Pakistan as a peaceful nation, we must take the initial step of ensuring reality is presented to the world through art and stories.

Citizens, especially the new generation, must provide their time and attention sincerely in order to make efforts in showing the world Pakistan’s peaceful reality. We must be reminded of sacrificial young leaders such as Malala Yousafzai, Arfa Karim, Babar Iqbal and others, who played a crucial role in presenting Pakistan’s bravery and peacefulness to the world. If more people are willing to join the mission of these brave hearts, it will become possible to bring about the revolutionary change which the country dreams of.

To the world, Pakistan is a homeland for terrorists. This makes tourists feel fearful of visiting Pakistan, thus we are deprived of having a successful tourism industry despite of having the most beautiful natural sights in the world. We cannot tolerate this misrepresentation of our beautiful nation by the world. In reality, we inhabit pacifist individuals among our citizens. We follow the basic principles of humanity like brotherhood, equality, peace and harmony. We know how to love and respect people. We have soft hearts and hospitality for our guests. We are not those who spread hatred or those who offend others. We only know how to enjoy the blessings bestowed upon us and share our happiness with others. We are blessed with a rich culture, scenic cities, and historical monuments recognized in the world. Lastly, we openly welcome tourists to visit our country and remove the preset notions they have, replacing them with knowledge of our love for purity, peace and harmony.

Chitral, for instance, is one of the most beautiful and peaceful cities in Pakistan, significantly popular for its rich culture and attractive historical places. Among many, Shandur has always been the center of attraction because of its beauty, the high altitude, and the famous polo festival. It is often called the ‘Roof of the World’ because it is situated at an altitude of 3,700 m. Shandur is full of natural beauty in the form of lakes, greenery, ponds and so on. The highest lake of the World, known as the ‘Shandur Lake’, is located here. There is also a fishing spot in the region of Langar, which is a popular tourist attraction.

The highest polo ground is also situated here where the aforementioned polo festival is organized once a year. It is scheduled from 7^th to 9^th June during which five matches are played between the teams of Gilgit and Chitral. One unique fact about the polo match is that it is a free-style match which means there aren’t any rules for playing the match. On the 9^th of June, the final match is played between the Chitral A and Gilgit A Teams.

On the last day of the festival, different performances are presented by the local people to illuminate their rich culture to the audience. Furthermore, the performance of the well-trained paragliders of the Pakistan Army leaves the audience bewildered with their stunning free fall from a height of 10,000 feet.

This marvelous festival ends with the distribution of prizes and the celebration of the team’s players dancing to the traditional music of Chitral. This peaceful festival aims to spread a peaceful message to the world, and tourists depart to their respective countries with stories of adventures and the thrilling culture, as well as the hospitality of the local people.

We, the youth of Pakistan, cordially request the people around the world who hold negative perceptions about our peaceful country to visit and participate in our cultural practices and events. Through this, we will be able to reveal the true face of peace, harmony, brotherhood, love and the hospitality of our country, which you could also vouch for.