By Zahiruddin
CHITRAL: Preparations are in full swing for receiving His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan, the 49th Imam of Ismaili Muslim community, in Chitral which is scheduled in the second week of December in connection with the golden jubilee celebrations of his Imamat.
A source in the Ismaili regional council of Chitral, requesting not to be quoted, told Chitral Times here on Wednesday that one hundred and forty thousand followers, both male and female, of Ismaili sect will have a sight of their spiritual leader in Booni and Garam Chashma for which two numbers of didaar gaah (place of sighting) are near completion.
He said that His Highness Aga Khan will deliver sermon on both the venues whose duration may span over an hour which will be zenith of the congregations and the pilgrims will disperse and set for their villages.
He said that magnetic invitation cards have been issued and conveyed to each and every pilgrim so that only the card holders may be able to enter the didaar gaah while cards have been issued to the members of Ismaili community upon their security clearance.
He said that 80 thousand pilgrims will attend the Booni and 60 thousand the Garam Chashma venues while the residents of villages nearby both the venues have volunteered to host the pilgrims coming from the distant places.
After his accession to Imamat in 1957, Prince Karim Aga Khan has earlier visited Chitral in 1976, 1983 and 2003 and during each visit, congregations of his followers were held in Booni and Garam Chashma.
One of the members of Ismaili community from Booni, Khosh Murad said that this time the arrival of the Imam is being accorded more importance than his earlier visits due to the fact that it formed the part of golden jubilee celebrations and that he was coming here after fourteen years.
He said that the Jammat khana (worship places) throughout the region had been decorated as part of the celebrations and pay homage to the Imam on his visit to the area.
He said that as departure from the past events of the arrival of their spiritual leader, the members of Sunni community were extending help to the Ismaili community to accomplish different tasks including the construction of didaar gaah in both the venues.
“This is a very positive development and will promote communal harmony between Sunni and Ismaili contributing to maintenance of the ideal situation of peace in Chitral”, he said.
Syed Nazir Hussain Shah of Yarkhoon valley said that the members of Ismaili community working outside Chitral district have started arriving here to partake the most important event from dogmatic point of view.
He said that a large number of the community members were working in the major cities of Peshawar, Islamabad and Karachi and their influx will start once the date of the visit of His Highness is finalized.
Out of twenty four union councils of the district, the Ismaili community had their numerical dominance in the union councils of Yarkhoon, Mastuj, Laspur and Booni of upper Chitral and Lot Koh, Karim Abad and Shoghor of lower Chitral and formed more than 30 percent population of the district.
