Latest news with #GilgitBaltistan
Arab News
a day ago
- Sport
- Arab News
Pakistan's Shandur Polo Festival kicks off at world's highest ground, draws global tourists
PESHAWAR: Pakistan's annual Shandur Polo Festival began Friday at an altitude of 12,000 feet in the country's mountainous north, with officials calling it a celebration of culture, sportsmanship and peace that draws tourists from around the world. Held each year at the Shandur Pass in Upper Chitral, the three-day festival features traditional freestyle polo matches between teams from Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan, alongside folk music, camping, paragliding and cultural exhibitions. The event is considered a major tourist attraction and is played on what is often described as the highest polo ground in the world. 'Shandur Polo is one of our most important cultural sports, played at 12,000 feet,' said Syed Fakhar Jahan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs, at the opening ceremony, according to an official statement. 'Spectators and tourists from around the world come to witness this unique event,' he added. 'We welcome them all.' The festival sees teams from Gilgit and Chitral compete in fast-paced, no-holds-barred matches played without umpires, a throwback to the region's centuries-old polo traditions. Officials say the event aims to foster unity and harmony between the two regions, which share historical ties and a friendly sporting rivalry. 'Such activities send a message of peace to the world,' the provincial minister said. 'Pakistanis are a people who cherish their cultural heritage, and this festival reflects that spirit.'
Arab News
2 days ago
- Arab News
Locals in Pakistan's Hunza Valley call for action against hotels ‘polluting' Attabad Lake
KHAPLU, Gilgit-Baltistan: Local social activists in Pakistan's northern Hunza Valley are demanding strict action against hotels operating around Attabad Lake for failing to meet environmental standards, after a video by a foreign vlogger alleging untreated sewage discharge into the lake went viral on social media this week. Attabad Lake was formed in 2010 when a massive landslide blocked the Hunza River, killing 20 people and submerging villages and a stretch of the strategic Karakoram Highway that links Pakistan to China. Over the years, the lake has become a major tourist attraction, driving a boom in hotel construction along its banks. Following the viral video by travel vlogger George Buckley, officials from the Gilgit-Baltistan Environmental Protection Agency (GBEPA) and local administration inspected the hotel's premises and sewage facilities on Tuesday. 'We have fined Rs 1.5 million ($5,300) on [Luxus Hunza Attabad Lake Resort] hotel after the inspection,' Khadim Hussain, a director at the EPA, confirmed to Arab News. 'A portion of the resort has been sealed for the period of three months. And if they don't develop a waste treatment plan within the stipulated period of time, the [whole] facility will be sealed and imposed more fines.' He added: 'The action against the hotels that are not complying [with] environmental standards continues in the region before the video of a foreign vlogger.' Residents say pollution caused by unchecked hotel expansion is now threatening Attabad Lake's clear blue water, which draws thousands of tourists every year. 'Solid waste is becoming a big issue in the surrounding areas of Attabad Lake and especially on river banks due to the construction of hotels,' Shahid Hussain, a local social activist and politician, told Arab News by phone. 'When the level of the water [in the lake] increases during summer, the level of sewage waste in soakage pits also rises and merges into the lake. This is deteriorating the natural beauty of Attabad Lake.' He stressed: 'The environmental protection authority has fined one hotel. And this is not a permanent solution. The administration and EPA should give a proper mechanism to protect nature and clean water.' Another activist, Zahoor Ilahi, echoed the call for tougher enforcement. 'Initially, when locals started to build miniature resorts and hotels, the municipal and district administration teased the locals in the name of NOC [No Objection Certificate],' he said. 'Later big investors came to the region and built big hotels, and there is no treatment plant for sewage waste. If the [Luxus] hotel has no treatment plan, then the whole resort should be sealed instead of imposing a fine on them.' Ilahi warned that untreated wastewater could also threaten local drinking water projects: 'A project is underway to supply drinking water from Attabad Lake for central Hunza under a federal PSDP project. So, the protection of clean water is very much needed. If the government fails to protect the clean water, it will multiply the miseries of locals.' In a Facebook post, the Luxus Resort rejected the allegations. 'Attabad Lake formed in 2010. Before Luxus Hunza opened its doors to tourists in 2019, no one had experienced this majestic lake up close. This lake has been home for us for the last six years. It is the reason and purpose of our existence. To dump sewage water into the lake would be like desecrating our own house. We have never nor will we ever dump a single liter of waste water into Attabad Lake,' the hotel management said. It added that the cloudy appearance of the lake near the hotel was due to natural sediment from mountain streams mixing with the clear lake water, not sewage discharge. Arab News attempted to contact a representative of Luxus Hotel Hunza for further comment but did not receive a response by the time of filing this report.
Malay Mail
6 days ago
- Business
- Malay Mail
Songs of sawdust and strength among Hunza women in Pakistan's Karakoram Mountains
KARIMABAD, June 16 — In a sawdust-filled workshop nestled in the Karakoram Mountains, a team of women carpenters chisel away at cabinets — and forge an unlikely career for themselves in Pakistan. Women make up just a fraction of Pakistan's formal workforce. But in a collection of villages sprinkled along the old Silk Road between China and Afghanistan, a group of women-led businesses is defying expectations. 'We have 22 employees and have trained around 100 women,' said Bibi Amina, who launched her carpentry workshop in 2008 at the age of 30. Hunza Valley's population of around 50,000, spread across mountains abounding with apricot, cherry, walnut and mulberry orchards, follow the Ismaili branch of Shiite Islam. Ismailis are led by the Aga Khan, a hereditary position held by a family with Pakistani roots now living in Europe. A team of women carpenters works at a carpentry workshop in Karimabad, in the Hunza district of Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan region May 20, 2025. — AFP pic The family opened a girls' school in Hunza in 1946, kickstarting an educational investment that pushed the valley's literacy rate to 97 per cent for both men and women. That rate far outstrips the country average of around 68 per cent for men and 52.8 per cent for women. As a result, attitudes have shifted, and women like Amina are taking expanded roles. 'People thought women were there to wash dishes and do laundry,' Amina said of the generation before her. Trained by the Aga Khan Foundation to help renovate the ancient Altit Fort, Amina later used her skills to start her own business. Her carpenters are currently at work on a commission from a luxury hotel. Bibi Amina, a businesswoman, speaks during an interview with AFP at her carpentry workshop in Karimabad, in the Hunza district of Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan region May 20, 2025. — AFP pic Pioneers Only 23 per cent of the women in Pakistan were officially part of the labour force as of 2024, according to data from the World Bank. In rural areas, women rarely take on formal employment but often toil in the fields to support the family's farming income. In a Gallup poll published last year, a third of women respondents said their father or husband forbade them from taking a job, while 43.5 per cent said they had given up work to devote themselves to domestic tasks. Cafe owner Lal Shehzadi spearheaded women's restaurant entrepreneurship in Hunza. She opened her cafe at the top of a winding high street to supplement her husband's small army pension. A woman shopkeeper selling traditional handmade items works at her shop in Karimabad, in the Hunza district of Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan region May 20, 2025. — AFP pic Sixteen years later, her simple set-up overlooking the valley has become a popular night-time tourist attraction. She serves visitors traditional cuisine, including yak meat, apricot oil and rich mountain cheese. 'At the start, I used to work alone,' she said. 'Now, 11 people work here and most of them are women. And my children are also working here.' Following in Shehzadi's footsteps, Safina quit her job to start her own restaurant around a decade ago. 'No one wanted to help me,' she said. Eventually, she convinced family members to sell two cows and a few goats for the money she needed to launch her business. Now, she earns the equivalent of around US$170 (RM720) a month, more than 15 times her previous income. In a sawdust-filled workshop nestled in the Karakoram Mountains, a team of women carpenters chisel away at cabinets — and forge an unlikely career for themselves in Pakistan. — AFP pic Farming to football The socio-economic progress of women in Hunza compared to other rural areas of Pakistan has been driven by three factors, according to Sultan Madan, the head of the Karakoram Area Development Organisation and a local historian. 'The main reason is the very high literacy rate,' he told AFP, largely crediting the Aga Khan Foundation for funding training programmes for women. 'Secondly, agriculture was the backbone of the economy in the region, but in Hunza the landholding was meagre and that was why women had to work in other sectors.' Women's increased economic participation has spilled into other areas of life, like sports fields. 'Every village in the valley has a women's soccer team: Gojal, Gulmit, Passu, Khyber, Shimsal,' said Nadia Shams, 17. On a synthetic pitch, she trains with her teammates in jogging pants or shorts, forbidden elsewhere by Pakistan's dress code. Fahima Qayyum, a football player, practises at a ground in Gilgit, in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan May 22, 2025. — AFP pic Here, one name is on everyone's lips: Malika-e-Noor, the former vice-captain of the national team who scored the winning penalty against the Maldives in the 2010 South Asian Women's Football Championship. Fahima Qayyum was six years old when she witnessed the killer kick. Today, after several international matches, she is recruiting the next generation. 'As a girl, I stress to others the importance of playing, as sport is very good for health,' she told AFP. 'If they play well, they can also get scholarships.' — AFP
Arab News
05-06-2025
- Health
- Arab News
Pakistan PM orders tighter polio surveillance after northern Gilgit-Baltistan reports first case
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered that polio immunization efforts be enhanced after the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region reported its first case of the virus in seven years this week, the premier's office said on Thursday. Polio is a paralyzing disease that has no cure. Multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of 5 are essential to provide children high immunity against the disease. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where polio remains endemic. Pakistan has reported 11 polio cases so far this year, compared to 74 cases in 2024. Earlier this week, the poliovirus was detected in a child from the district of Diamer in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, according to the country's polio eradication program. 'The prime minister expressed deep concern over the recent reported polio case in Diamer,' Sharif's office said in a statement. 'Union Councils where more polio cases are being reported and immunization is not good should be closely monitored.' Pakistan concluded a nationwide polio vaccination campaign on June 1, the third this year. The drive had aimed to inoculate 45 million children under the age of five across 159 districts of the country. In the early 1990s, Pakistan reported around 20,000 polio cases annually. By 2018, that number had dropped to just eight. In 2021, only one case was reported, and six cases were recorded in 2023. Pakistan's polio eradication program began in 1994, but efforts have been repeatedly undermined by misinformation and resistance from some religious hard-liners. These groups claim that immunization is a foreign plot to sterilize Muslim children or a cover for Western espionage. Militant groups have also frequently attacked polio vaccination teams and the security personnel assigned to protect them. A Pakistani police officer was killed on May 27 when gunmen opened fire on a team of health workers conducting a door-to-door polio vaccination campaign in the southwestern Balochistan province during the latest inoculation drive.
CTV News
02-06-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Pakistan's anti-polio drive suffers a blow after a northern enclave reports first case in 7 years
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistan efforts to eliminate polio suffered another blow on Monday after a northern enclave reported its first case in seven years. Overall, it was the country's 11th case since January, despite the launch of several immunization drives. The virus was detected in a child from the district of Diamer in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, according to the country's polio eradication program. Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only two countries where the spread of the wild polio virus has not been stopped, according to the World Health Organization. There are ongoing outbreaks of polio linked to the oral vaccine in 10 other countries, mostly in Africa. The new case was reported after Pakistan on Sunday wrapped up its third nationwide polio vaccination drive of the year, aiming to immunize 45 million children. Mohammad Iqbal, a director at the polio program in the northwest, said local health officials were still trying to determine how the poliovirus that was found in the southern port city of Karachi had infected the child in Diamer. During the summer season, thousands of tourists from Karachi and elsewhere visit tourist resorts in Gilgit-Baltistan. Pakistan's polio eradication program has been running anti-polio campaigns for years, though health workers and the police assigned to protect them are often targeted by militants who falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children. Since the 1990s, attacks on polio vaccination teams have killed more than 200 workers and security personnel.
