Rain disrupts Kagh Lusht festival

CHITRAL, April 16: The third day of the Kagh Lusht festival on Saturday was disrupted by rain in the afternoon forcing the spectators to leave the venue. Earlier, the green plateau of Kagh Lusht reverberated with the songs and tunes of musical instruments of the cultural show which continued for hours and the artists of Mulkhow, Mastuj and Torkhow valleys enthralled the people. The peculiarity of the show was the use of some abandoned musical instruments including sitar . A Khowar (Chitrali language) mushaira (recitation of poems) was also held chaired by Abdul Wali Khan advocate in which the natural beauty of the area in spring season was expressed. In the sports competition, football teams of Reshun and Booni and cricket teams of Badshaha Club Booni and Krui Junali qualified for the final while Kosht and Booni teams made it to the final of polo. Telling about the schedule of competitions of Sunday (today) of the festival, the organiser Haider Wali Haideri told Dawn a competition of hunting of bird (quail) by falcons between the teams of Torkhow and Kosht would be held. He said a captive quail would be set free and the competitors will induce their falcons to catch it. He said the tug-of-war between the teams of Mulkhow and Biyar would also be an interesting and much sought after item of the festival. Mr Haideri said target shooting by obsolete guns loaded with bullets was yet another item of the festival in which individuals were participating. Meanwhile, Chitral police registered cases against nine players and supporters of Reshun polo team for inflicting injuries on a player of Booni team during a scuffle on Friday. —Correspondent