The dispute over Shandur

By Zar Alam Khan

As the annual Shandur festival draws nearer, a controversy between
the Northern Areas administration and Chitral over some meadows and
pastures on the 10,500-foot-high pass has overshadowed the
preparations, threatening even the future of the now worldwide
popular event.
The dispute between the locals of Laspur, a valley in Mastuj area
of Chitral, and Ghizer district of Gilgit has a long history. But
the Northern Areas administration's claim over the whole Shandur
pass cropped up after the polo festival was given official status
in 1982 and the event started attracting tourists from all over
the world. Later, the Northern Areas administration unsuccessfully
tried to take over the management of the festival from Chitral.
The Northern Areas has been claiming that British era `documents'
were ample proof of the demarcation of Shandur area as a boundary
between Ghizer and Chitral, wherein the watershed of Shandur Lake
had been declared the line separating the two districts.
They say the Langar pastures were already 15kms inside the
boundaries of Ghizer; alleging that over a passage of time the
Chitral administration and some officials from the NWFP posted
in Gilgit attempted to tamper with the documents about the
jurisdiction of Shandur. However, `historical facts' negate such
allegation of fudged demarcation.
The N.As administration says Ghizer was part of Gilgit Agency
during the British Raj and in 1936 the then British Political
Agent of Gilgit Agency, Mr Cobb, constructed the Shandur polo
ground. This they consider as a proof that the land was part
of the Gilgit Agency.
Shandur is divided into two parts. On the one side, there are
a lake, the polo ground and pasture settlements running east-west
for about 10 km along the main road. This area is undisputed
property of Chitral. The pasture huts and settlements belong to
the people of Laspur in Chitral. The second portion runs
south-north and is called Langar or Kukush, that had timber forest
in the past and was jointly used by the people of Ghizer and
Laspur.
According to prominent scholar and researcher Dr Inayatullah
Faizi, there has been no controversy over Shandur polo ground,
Shandur Lake and the summer pasture of the valley and the area
has remained an integral part of Chitral since long. Hundreds
of summer huts set up by people from Laspur in Shandur also
negate the claim of the people of Northern Areas. In 1959, he
says, the number of huts there was 344, which rose to 479 in
2007 and was still growing.
Occasionally, however, there had been some disputes between
the people of Laspur and Ghizer over the pasture of Langar
which, according to the people of Northern Areas, is located
15 kilometers inside Gilgit borders. As a result, Jirgas of
elders and officials of both the sides were held in 1914
and 1959 to work out modalities for grazing cattle in the
pasture and for using firewood and timber of the Langar forest.
The 1959 Jirga allowed both the people of Laspur and Ghizer to
graze their cattle in the pasture. It, however, specifically
allowed the people of Laspur to also use firewood and
recognized their right on timber of the forest. However, to
contain the growing pace of deforestation in Langar, the Jirga
decided that timber would be used for the repair or
construction of the summer huts only. As far as the use of wood
to repair the existing huts was concerned, the people of
Laspur were allowed to take woods from the forest freely. But
for construction of new huts, they were bound to obtain
permission to cut wood from the governors of Ghizer and
Mastuj of Chitral.
The verdict amply negated the claim that Langar pasture was
located some 15km inside the boundaries of Gilgit, according
to Dr Faizi.
“The second proof that Shandur meadows, lake and the areas
were integral part of Chitral and have never been disputed
is that in 1914 Shujaul Mulk, the Mehtar (ruler) of the
then princely state of Chitral, got constructed a summer
palace at the bank of Shandur Lake near Mas Junali (moony
polo ground) and a boat was also placed there. The summer
palace existed there till 1959, when it collapsed due to
poor maintenance. The ruins and rubble can still be
seen there.”
Dr Faizi also ridicules the claim of the Northern Areas
administration that Mr Cobb constructed the Shandur polo
ground. He says Mr Cobb was in the area from 1920 to
1937 while the polo ground existed in Shandur even before
1440. "Col Lockhart visited Shandur in 1876 and mentioned
in his report the existence of a polo ground in Shandur,"
he says. "Mr Cobb was a polo fan and he used to come to
Shandur for playing the game on the invitation of Mehtar
of Chitral in moon light. He had nothing to do with the
construction of the polo ground in Shandur," he argues.
In 2001, the matter was taken to the ministries of states
and frontier region (Safron) and interior. In July 2003,
a Jirga was held in Safron, wherein the NWFP government
persuaded the ministry that Shandur was an integral part
of Chitral. The NWFP government gave three arguments to
substantiate its point: In the Land Commission's report
of 1975, the two polo grounds of Shandur were mentioned as
the property of the NWFP government; the summer huts of
the people of Laspur and Chitral are present in the
meadows of Shandur, and a checkpost of the Frontier Corps
(FC) is also located on the pass.
About the sudden flare-up in the controversy, some people
on both sides of the Shandur pass say it is a handiwork
of elements trying to create a rift between the people
of Chitral and the Northern Areas. They also point fingers
at the Indian lobby for being active behind the
controversy. “Through a conspiracy, the lobby is attempting
to expand the Gilgit border westward.”
Notwithstanding the causes of the controversy, the dispute
would create law and order situation in the region besides
badly affecting its growing tourism industry.