In Breve
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Un commento all'articolo si trova sulla rivista "Intraisass"
"Fears of terrorism are stalking Pakistan's northern peaks like an invisible monster..." inizia con queste parole l'articolo del The Time of India, l'autorevole quotidiano indiano osservatore della politica centro asiatica. "La paura del terrorismo" - o meglio le conseguenze di tale paura - "si sta insinuando silenziosamente nelle montagne del Pakistan settentrionale come un mostro invisibile..." dove vivono le ridenti popolazioni ismaelite celebri per la loro cordialità e la disponibilità nei confronti degli ospiti.
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AFP [ SUNDAY, MARCH 03, 2002 7:34:01 AM ]
KARIMABAD, Pakistan: Fears of terrorism are stalking Pakistan's northern peaks like an invisible monster, scaring off foreign climbers and trekking groups more used to dealing with the real dangers of avalanches, rockfalls and treacherous glaciers.
However, local guides, porters and cooks whose livelihood depends on adventure tourism in the Himalaya, Hindu Kush and Karakoram mountains of northern Pakistan insist the fears are groundless and the mountains are safer than ever.
For the 10,000 or so mainly Ismaili families in the Northern Areas who depend on tourism, the situation is dire. So far, only 15 mountaineering expeditions have booked for the coming summer -- three of which have subsequently cancelled.
By contrast, 70 expeditions were made last year to Pakistan's best known peaks, including K2 -- the world's second-highest mountain -- Masherbrum and Gasherbrum in the Karakoram range; Nanga Parbat in the Himalayas; and Trich Mir in the Hindu Kush range.
Also last year, 245 trekking groups explored the mountains and valleys of the breathtaking Hunza region, where myths of sex-hungry female fairies and giants abound and where the mountain-dwellers are known for their longevity; and Skardu, where the spectacular Sadpara lake and Indus river have earned the area the title "Shangri-La."
So far, no trekkers have confirmed their bookings for the summer. The fears surfaced after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States and were fuelled by the US bombing campaign in neighbouring Afghanistan and tension between India and Pakistan.
The kidnapping and grisly murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl merely served to confirm the fears, even though the events occurred at Karachi, more than 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles) from the remote Hunza valley.
"People believe that if there is a problem in one part of Pakistan, the whole country is insecure," mountain guide Imam Mohammad Baig said in this picturesque town at the base of the jagged Ultar peak. "But there have been no problems here at all. It is very, very safe."
Cancellations of expeditions to some of the world's most challenging peaks began immediately after the September 11 attacks, said Baig, who works for a mountaineering company run by Nazir Sabir, the first Pakistani to climb Everest. "I was with a Japanese trekking group near Skardu (in the Himalayas) when we heard of the attacks. Within days the Japanese government had organised a large helicopter to take the group out," he said.
Soon afterwards non-governmental organisations began pulling out of the area and tourism dried up, as it has everywhere in Pakistan. "The effect of the cancellations will be tremendous," said tourism ministry coordination officer Ayaz Khan Afridi. "These people (of Hunza) are the poorest in the country."
In a desperate bid to woo the mountaineers back, Islamabad has decided to halve the royalties it usually demands from those wishing to scale its mountains, five of which are higher than 8,000 metres (26,260 feet), and six of which are between 7,000 and 8,000 metres.
The cost of this gesture is not insignificant -- royalties from mountaineering and trekking last year earned more than five million dollars for the government. It has also launched a major programme linking its campaign to the United Nations' declaration of 2002 as the International Year of the Mountains.
"Our mountains are quite safe," Afridi said. "People shouldn't be put off by something that happened in one part of the country. It could have happened anywhere in the world." Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation managing director Masood Ali Khan said negative warnings by Western governments had badly affected travel to Pakistan.
"They are really damaging the cause of peace and tolerance," Masood said. "Isolating the country will have the opposite effect. It will leave people angry." Iftikhar Hussain, headman of the ancient village of Ganesh in the heart of the Hunza valley, stressed the tourists will be safe.
"There has never been an incident here, and nothing has happened to change that," he said. "So many people are dependent on mountaineering and trekking they will not allow anything to happen that will affect their bread and butter."
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