Daily Times

PESHAWAR: Afghanistan-based militants on Friday carried out yet another attack on the unarmed Kalash Shepherds in Birir Valley, only hours after killing two shepherds and taking away more than 300 sheep and goats in Karakal border village of Bamburet Valley, Chitral.

Local sources in Kalash Valley of Birir informed Daily Times that the pastures near the Pakistan’s border with Nuristan Province of Afghanistan were attacked by some 45 armed men who were able to steal more than 400 goats and sheep.

Other sources claimed the number of the livestock stolen from Birir was 900 to 2,000, as the shepherds fearing for their lives escaped to a nearby village.

Earlier, the funeral ceremony of Noor Ahmad and Khush Wali, the two shepherds killed in the attack near the Karakal village the other day was held late last night without any Kalash rituals for the dead.

Sayed Gul, a Kalash student at the University of Peshawar informed that traditionally the Kalash perform their rituals for the dead for three days before burying them.

“When a Kalash person passes away, people from all the three Kalash valleys gather to pay their last respects and take part in our religious rituals. However, the two bodies were riddled with bullets and were decomposing that is why they were buried without performing any rituals,” she informed.

She claimed that two Muslim shepherds were left unhurt in the same attack in Karakal, an indication that the terrorists were only targeting the Kalash. “The Muslims have more goats than us. They take their goats, along with the Gujjar and Kalash people but every time only Kalasha are targeted. A similar incident took place in 2013 when a Kalash shepherd was killed and his goats were stolen,” she added.

She also lamented that the peaceful Kalash people were left unheard after repeated attacks on their lives, traditions and religion. “The government should provide us security against such attacks as well as the injustices we face on daily basis against people who can’t tolerate our existence in our own lands,” Gul said.

District Police Officer (DPO) Asif Iqbal Mohmand said that the first incident took place around 6 am on Friday morning when armed men attacked the summer pastures of the Kalash near the Afghan border.

“There was information that some armed men have crossed into the Pakistani side of the border from Afghanistan. The Police force and Pakistan Army mobilized personnel to pursue them. However, the armed men had carried out their activity and gone back to Afghanistan before efforts could be materialized to protect the shepherds,” he said.

Asif Iqbal added that extra police personnel were deployed in the valley to care for the minority Kalash community, who were in fear after the attack. “Majority of the police performing duty in Kalash are from the community themselves. We have deployed an additional 150 personnel including Elite force to provide extra protection,” he added.

Goats hold a very important place in the lives of the Kalash people. The animals are sacrificed in great number on every tradition, including births, marriages, death and seasonal festivals. They even have specific names for at least two such sacrifices. One, called Khudai is the sacrifice done in the winter season. Similarly when the parents of the bride visit her for the first time, the sacrifice of goats by the groom’s family is called Marath. Goats are considered sacred in the Kalash traditions and women are not allowed to look after them or even visit the sheds.

Every year the Kalash and Muslims living in the valleys take their goats to the pastures near the border in May and stay there till mid-October.

“The two persons killed had lost all their goats to the militants. Their family could not afford to sacrifice goats for the mourners visiting from Rambur, Birir and locals from Bamburet so the relations, friends and neighbours offered goats to help in keeping the tradition of sacrifice,” said Abdul Khaliq, a community worker in Bamburet.

Abdul Khaliq demanded the provincial government to compensate for the losses of the Kalash people whose goats were stolen.

Zafar Ahmad, Sub-Division Police Officer (SDPO) Drosh circle visited the place where the incident took place yesterday, says the site is more than six hours from Bamburet. “Both incidents took place yesterday in the morning. I went to the pastures. The site is further away from the last Pakistan Army check post at Astoi,” he said.

The border between Pakistan and Afghanistan is about 450 kilometers. Drosh circle SDPO is responsible for nearly 200 kilometers from Arandu to Rambur. “We have one Police station in Bamburet with two elite force platoons and one police post each in Rambur and Birir with 14 and 10 policemen and one elite force platoon each respectively,” Zafar Ahmad said.

“Our force can handle any situation in the three valleys but we have no mandate to secure the border areas. The people go to those areas on their own risk as they have repeatedly been warned by the security forces about the risks there,” SDPO added.

Advocate Nabaig Khan, a Kalash lawyer practicing in Chitral is a relative to one of the deceased Kalash man. “The situation is getting back to normal however there is still widespread fear among the Kalash community. There was a joint meeting of Kalash and Muslims with the Police and measures have been taken to comfort the minority,” said Nabaig, who is a PTI district council member in Bumburet.