Pakistan: Kalash community members say they continue to face 'identity crisis'

During a consultative meeting organised by the Ishpata News Network Pakistan here, Kalash elders Luke Rehmat, Baras Khan, Sherzada, Michel, Zarmast Gul and Unat Beg complained that their community faced several issues as the CNICs had no mention of their religion, reports Dawn News.

They said the situation had blown to a “full-fledged identity crisis” for the Kalash community.

The community is known for their primitive ways of life and culture.

Elders of the community complained that the identity crisis was becoming an issue for the Kalash as they were no longer confined to their valleys and had become part of the national mainstream.

Despite their fight for several years, the problem faced by the community members has not been solved so far.

Civil society members and government officials including Mukhtar Azam Khan, Ayaz Zareen and others endorsed the views of Kalash elders and said that sometimes, the nonappearance of Kalash religion in the national documents deprived the community of many concessions and privileges, reports Dawn News.

As per the Wikipedia page,  Kalash is an Indo-Aryan indigenous group of people who reside in the Chitral District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.