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Yaftali put forwards reservations of Laspur residents about Shandur Festival

By Zahiruddin

CHITRAL: Former member of district council Chitral and renowned polo player of Laspur valley Amirullah Khan Yaftali has strongly opposed the transfer of the arrangement of Shandur festival to the by the government and alleged that it was an attempt to benefit some blue eyed of the provincial tourism minister. Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, he said that certain NGOs are getting edge over the government in the preparation of the festival. He alleged that certain elements are busy in minting money by seizing the opportunity in collusion with certain ‘influentials’ in the government. Mr. Yaftali said that Shandur is not government property but the pasture of the residents of Laspur valley who derived economic benefit from it. He lamented that the residents of Laspur suffer a huge loss every year after the festival as their cattle heads perished due to the accumulation of pollutants in the field. He demanded royalty or special compensation for the people of Laspur valley on account of the loss inflicted on them during the festival. He complained that the district management always ignores the people of Laspur in management of the festival despite the fact that there is not dearth of competent persons in the valley. Mr. Yaftali said that a mobile company Telenor had made promises with the people of Laspur but never to be fulfilled and now they are again reportedly trying to dupe the gullible people of the valley. He asked the political leaders not to use the venue of the festival as a platform to propagate their agenda but leave it to be a purely sports event. To a question, he said that the government is giving a cold shoulder to the players of polo and not a single step is taken to encourage the players. Serving a warning on the government, Mr. Yaftali said that they people of Laspur valley will turn violent on the occasion of the festival if their demands were not met. On this occasion, the elites of Laspur valley captain (retd) Mir Gulab Shah, Abdul Karim, Sharafuddin were also present.