Kalash society losing cultural traits to outside influence

CHITRAL, March 31: Once as peaceful as the serenity of valleys, the Kalash people and culture has been subjected to a rapid change by the outside influence during the last two decades, which is denting their cultural values of tolerance and non-violence. "In olden days people used to be non-violent and peaceful, abstaining from quarrels and altercations and even would resign from their rights for peace," said a Kalash elder Gurum Shah while talking to Dawn here. He said that the people living in the three segregated valleys of Bamburate, Birir and Rumbur in the south of Chitral were known for their docile and submissive nature and crime was unheard of in the valley. "The people were as calm as the valleys and even crying loud was a taboo in their culture," he said and added that their religious dogmas propagated peace. Shah Murad Baig, a researcher of Kalash culture, said that with the opening of the valleys to the outer world, the cultural traits and norms of Kalash society had been subjected to a rapid change. He said that during the last two decades a defining change was noted in the attitude of Kalash people towards other people. Mr Baig observed that the young generation was no more committed to its culture and they were found deviating from both material and non-material cultural traits including dress, ways of living and even naming their newborn children. He said that as long as the Kalash culture was in its pure form, the people were peaceful, but they got inclined to violence when their culture went through changes. He recalled that a few years ago, the tourists would freely visit the Kalash houses and interact with local people, but now it had been prohibited and the tourists were required to hire the services of a Kalash guide to go inside the houses. The researcher said that in the olden days, the Kalash people were confined to their valleys and the influx of tourists was not in the present magnitude, which contributed to the peaceful nature of Kalash. Mr Baig said that there were many incidents when the Kalash youngsters had beaten up the tourists who dared to pester their womenfolk. He said that some tourists came with the perception that the Kalash people would not resist them and they tended to transgress the limits. The researcher said that in a major change the Kalash people had started reporting their family disputes to local police and now they were also found facing each other in the court in criminal cases.