.. by Rehmat Wali Khan
Rumours are afloat these days that Chitral Day is being celebrated in Peshawar soon. I came across an unwarranted press conference of our Chitrali political leaders on social media too who were firing in the air without understanding the underlying facts behind celebrating a day. Instead of making the voices of poor voters heard in the apex public offices and formulating policies for their betterment, they were bickering over Chitral Day. The post-press conference debate flooded the social media with expert opinions of people belonging to every walk of life. As anticipated people in our part of the world are very good at other’s jobs although they are unable to perform their own tasks satisfactorily. Surprisingly, none of them knew that why the Day, in the first place, is being celebrated.
A National Day or any other Social or Official day is usually celebrated in commemoration of a significant event that takes place in the past and because of that the collective well-being of that nation or society has considerably changed on good lines. In view of this explanation, nothing of significant importance has ever happened in the month of January or February in Chitral in the near or distant past. Therefore, discussion on celebrating Chitral Day in these months for no reasons is a nonsensical debate. However, events like cultural shows, musical nights or other similar programmes can be arranged to showcase Chitral’s culture at any point in time.
Now, what could be Chitral Day, if we are really interested in celebrating that? The past events indicate that Chitral had been under the Mehtar Rule—an authoritarian regime which controlled land, suppressed dissent by force and accumulated civil, military and judicial powers in one person—before acceding to Pakistan. The historical day liberated the masses to become ‘Mehtar’ in their own ways. The day also marked freedom of speech, freedom from physical and mental afflictions and better access to basic social services such as education, health, sanitation and housing. Therefore, the day of complete administrative accession to Pakistan, i.e. July 28, 1969 may be declared as Chitral Day and we may celebrate this on July 28 every year. .. 26 Jan 2025
.. The writer is an Additional Directing Staff at the Pakistan Provincial services Academy Peshawar
3 thoughts on “‘Chitral Day’- July 28”
Director Rehmat Wali Khan has indeed made a significant observation regarding the importance of linking the celebration of Chitral Day to a meaningful historical event that resonates with the collective memory of Chitral’s people, such as the accession to Pakistan on July 28, 1969. Islamuddin Sahib’s suggestion of the signing of the Instrument of Succession by the Mehtar is equally noteworthy, as it marks a turning point in Chitral’s political history. However, I believe that both these Instruments are, although historically important, but carry complexities that cannot be ignored when proposing them as the basis for Chitral Day Celebrations.
More rational approach on the matter of deciding Chitral Day based on liberation from state oppressions and persecutions. moreover, poverty, hunger, lack of healthcare to curb epidemics, intolerance, social fragmentation and intense hatred devastated lives of Chitralis for unknown times. 28th of July is a remarkable choice for this day, however, it seems that the stakeholders (so called) will not give consent to this as almost all Chitralis move to homes on the arrival of summer temprature. For them a day in winter would be plausible to celebrate culture as all gather in Peshawar to warm up their cold hands.
بالکل درست بات ہے اور اسی دن کو یعنی
اٹھائیس جولائی کو چترال ڈے
کے نام سے منانا چاہئے تاکہ سب کا اتفاق ھوگا اس پر اور سارے چترال کے عوام مراد عورت بچے بوڑھے اس میں شریک ہو۔ رحمت والی صاحب اپکی کی تجویز سب کے لئے قابل قبول ہوگا کیوں کہ چترال کے ساتھ پاکستان کی بھی بات ہے ۔ سب سے پہلے پاکستان ۔۔ 💕 ے