Shandur festival: Polo on the peaks

Special Report

CHITRAL, GILGIT-BALTISTAN,Shandur, July 09: Every year, polo matches used to play on Shandur pass, world's highest polo ground that stretched at around 3700 meter high above sea level at the junction of Himalayas, Karakorum and Hindukush have been center of attention across the world.

SHANDuR: Players dance on the pitch to the beat of drums after the first match of the annual Shandur polo festival from a nearby hillside, about 200 km (124 miles) northwest of Chitral July 7, 2010. The polo festival, played at an estimated altitude of 3700 meters, has been running annually since 1936. Photo by: Routers

According to the historians, the festival that dates back to around mid ninteen thirtees when polo matches between different areas of the region were held from first week of July on annual basis. ccording to the statistics available, more than ten thousand polo amatuars attended the festival last year. Yet, due to claim of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa province of having Shandur its integral part and opposition of Gilgit-Baktistan against the claim has soured the thrilling environment of the event. Chief Minister, Syed Mehdi Shah and other public representitives have slamed Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa's baseless claims and boycotted the festival as a protest over the silence of Islamabad over the issue. Consequently, the row between Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa has deepened creating trust deficiet and lack of cooperation between both the arms.