CHITRAL: Local lawmakers, Syed Sardar Hussain Shah and Bibi Fozia have defended the memorandum of understanding on Shandur polo festival, saying that it was only meant to promote tourism.

Addressing separate press conferences here on Sunday, they insisted that there was nothing in the said MoU regarding the Shandur ground, which is a disputed place between Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan.

The lawmakers said that all the clauses of the MoU were related to only holding the festival and ensuring participation of GB in it which has boycotted the event for the last three years. Without participation of the GB team the polo event has lost its charm and vitality resulting in decrease in tourists, they noted.

The MPAs criticised certain political parties, including JI and JUI, for creating a controversy over the MoU which, they said, was not a final document and was not binding on the signatories till it was changed into an agreement with the final approval of the chief ministers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and GB.

They alleged that certain political leaders were playing up the issue to win votes in the upcoming local bodies polls.

The lawmakers highlighted the importance of Shandur festival and said that the event should be held in a befitting manner to attract the tourists from abroad and to promote soft image of the country.

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2015

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