Influential and Famous Kalasha Curator Passes Away
Influential Kalasha tradition leader, cultural mediator and ancestral effigy artisan Shah Juan of Rumboor also dearly known as Sabika mimbar in Chitral region passed away on August 2, 2011.
Sabika is believed to be in his late 80’s and is one of the distinguished Kalasha elders who left his mark as prolific tradition guardian and curator.
Young Sabika is known to have mobilized and taken the Kalasha community in confidence of the prospects of their protection in Pakistan as a non-Muslim ethnic minority group after annexation of Chitral into Pakistan in 1969. He was a great admirer of Pakistan’s founder and named his own son ‘Quide-e-Azam’ after him.
In his lifetime, Sabika worked as a guardian curator for the survival of the Kalasha heritage and tradition particularly through his creations of ancestral wooden statues to keep the historical memory of his people alive. This indigenous way of archiving historical memory in shape of wooden statues in conjunction with ancestral knowledge intrigued several historians, anthropologists and linguists from abroad and aided them in research on the ancient culture of Chitral. His creations of wooden effigies are show-cased in Lok Versa Islamabad and in several ethnic art galleries abroad.
Some of the high profile dignitaries he had met to promote Kalasha heritage include Prime Minster Bhutto, General Zia, Benezir Bhutoo, Lady Diana and President Musharaf . Sabika, had a convincing authority on historical and cultural knowledge of the region.He was able to peacefully negotiate and settle countless inter-clan and community disputes. He also represented Kalasha in district council and in law suits which dealt with communal pastures with outsiders.
Shah Juan was famous for his hospitality, wit and folktales which routinely attracted visitors from all over Chitral to his riverside lodge in Rumboor.
Sabika leaves behind a legacy of tradition and its continuity, ingenuity and artisan-ship, friendship and hospitality. He was a true cultural ambassador of the Kalasha people and a great son of Chitral.
The Kalasha of Rumboor are holding a three day “rites of passage” in honor of this prestigious Kalasha man in the recent history of Kalasha.
Tags: kalasha elder shah juan rumboor kafirstan kalash Chitral Pakistan
