Every portrait and every face has a story. A Kalash kid from Batrik in Bumburet Valley of Kalash certainly looked like he had one but he never spoke a word you can tell by his intense look.

Moving from one valley settlement to another I have tried to communicate with the locals but very few tell the tale of their struggle. the struggle to keep their culture, traditions, and religion alive and we can’t blame them because of their past experiences with the tourists who even think of them as humans and you know why they are reluctant to start a conversation 

Kalasha tribe in their traditional costume

 I always wrote in my past stories from Kalash. They are the most hospitable people in the country you see. After all, they have been oppressed, and forced conversions they still haven’t lost their true identity. 

The Portrait of the  Kalasha Kid explains the Scenario of the Kalash valley, wounded, and ignored but still smiling with pride.

Kalasha: who are kalashas ? For many, they are an ancient tribe of Pakistan and they have their way of life, their religion, language, rituals, and their own identity or many may say people say they are kafirs who live in Kafiristan.

 

But, I have been there several times now experiencing their culture tradition, and hospitality they are people with hardly any education far from the so-called progressive world they are in a world of their own and in a battle of their own where they are not in a race to be better but struggle to keep what’s theirs. 

A place Where the true essence remains of love Harmony and hospitality and a culture that people fear we have fallen from reality. technology has not made us any better humans. This also shows how we have lost our true selves.

But One can’t help but wonder if their beauty and traditional culture is a blessing or a curse. Their struggle to keep an identity might fail in such a country and in the most deeply conservative area, it seems most unlikely they are on the brink of extinction and we are mere spectators. Which makes me sad though. What is left for them? Their land is taken by strangers,  trees are used as pledges for a cap, and most of the local tourists I see don’t even see them as humans. Caught between the Taliban in Afghanistan and the religious right in Pakistan, this ancient culture is in dire straits.

 

We proudly say our country is very diverse, both ethnically and religiously, but religious-leaning groups call it one Islamic nation while ignoring the thousands of years of history of many nations and communities.

About the author

Salim khan is a trekking guide/travel/adventure photographer and travel writer from Hunza Pakistan. He has been hiking and climbing in the Himalayas for the past 8 years and has captured and compiled many stories along the way on these adventures. his photographs, articles, and photo essays have been featured on several big platforms such as Worldnomads, Everyday Pakistan, Dawndotcom, Geomorphic Landscapes, Pamir Times, etc

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