GILGIT: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s “unilateral decision” to postpone the Shandur polo festival has drawn criticism from the Gilgit-Baltistan administration.
The plan was for the three-day celebration to start on Friday (tomorrow).
The KP administration declared on Monday that the event will be postponed because of “inclement weather.”
The deputy commissioner of Ghizer, a district in Gilgit-Baltistan, criticized the decision, writing to his counterpart in Chitral that the news of the Shandur polo festival’s postponement was “extremely disappointing and shocking for us in GB.”
This occasion represents the camaraderie and collaboration amongst our districts and is a pillar of our cultural legacy. Despite Shandur’s status as a historic area of Gilgit-Baltistan, it is astounding that the KP tourist department made a judgment without consulting anyone, stated deputy commissioner Habibur Rehman.
According to him, decisions of this nature are always made following discussions between the two administrations.
I note the GB government’s objection at the unilateral decision, as we had expended significant resources and efforts in preparation for the Shandur event.
“The thousands of fans who were looking forward to watching the contests will be inconvenienced in addition to the postponement resulting in waste of resources.”
At Shandur, 12,000 feet above sea level, the world’s highest polo ground hosts the festival once a year. For the past few years, the governments of Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have collaborated to organize it.
The main draw of the event is the Gilgit and Chitral freestyle contests.
Shandur Pass divides Gilgit-Baltistan’s Ghizer district from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Chitral district.
