Culture of Chaprote

CULTURE NAME

Shinaki

ALTERNATIVE NAMES

While the official name of the nation is the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, generally the country has been referred to as Pakistan since 1971.

ORIENTATION

Identification.

As part of Pakistan's independence from Great Britain in 1947, a partition took part of their land and created Pakistan as a separate Islamic nation. It is estimated that approximately 95 percent of the population are Muslim, but members of several minority religions live there, including some Hindus, Christians, Parsis, Sikhs, and Buddhists. The British Govt at the time of independece gave rights to the States that "It is your choice to whome with you want to live" The king of the Nagar state decided to accept Pakistan and singned an agreement with Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinah. According this agreement Pakistan should accept Nagar as a seprate state. Capital of the Nagar State initially was Chaprote due to its safe location. By the time foriegn affairs of the Nagar State smoothed withe the nighbours i.e Hunza and other states, and the King choose Chalt as capital. The Pakistani law will be acceptable but not enforceable in the state. All issues of the state will be handled within the state by their own laws. It has been also decided in this agreement that the arm forces of Pakistan and law enforcement agencies will defend the State interest. During the nationalization period in Pakistan, after twenty four years of the independence of GILGIT and twenty five years after the independence of Pakistan Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto ended the (Raggi nizam) state's role. In the struggle of the independence Chaprote "THE VALLEY OF PROTECTION" once again provide protection for the heroes of the strugal. The local people played the key role in the independece of the vallies from the hated rulars. Many people from the valley had been arrested for supporting to the strugal of independece and the residents also fought battle against the King.

Location and Geography.

Chaprote has an area of 3 square kilometres.The region is significantly mountainous, lying on the foothills of the Karakoram mountains, and has an average altitude of 1,600 metres (4,910 ft). It is drained by the two rivers which are rising from the north of the vally from Kachaili and Gapa.(Pastures)
At the north of the valley Bar valley is connecting through mountainous greenfields.



Demography.

The population of Chaprote is estimated to be three thousand. In addition to the residents of the major sectors of Kot, Chukbar, Khanegi, Gaeba and Rabat which is the sector connecting Chaprote with Chalt valley. A major part of the population had migrated to other vallies, towns and different cities of Pakistan in sreach of education and employement.Residents of the valley are purely Muslims(Shia Jaferi).
Foods of the valley plays a role in the celebrations i.e marriages, Eid at the end of the Ramadan fasting period. This starts with a special breakfast of sheerik with tea (dasi paratha), which is cooked in pakwan at mornning prepared two days earlier with dried almonds,appricots and other nuts. In addition, crowds hurry to local bazaars to purchase meat, and sweets as well as new clothes and jewelry.Sheriks are distributed as part of the celebration of the eid.
Mull (a dasi dish cooked in dasi ghee) cooked as part of the celebration of the birth of a new baby in a family, and an animal sacrificial offering is madeon the death—one on the day of death and second and third on the seventh day aand fourty th day respectivelly. Food also is involved in a ceremony celebrating a child becoming six or seven days old. After this ceremony the adults then hold an elaborate dinner concluded with a special dessert called Mull.

Basic Economy.

Chaprote is relativelly unstable intrems of its economy It is due to the sanctions imposed by the Nagar state on education. Nearlly 80% of the economy is dependent on agriculture. . The average per capita income per person in Chaprote is estimated at $460 (U.S.). .

Land Tenure and Property.

An estimated 69980 acres of land are used for agriculture. The major crops are wheat, Maiz and sugarcane. A large amount of land in Chaprote is coverd by the natural forest which remains covered with snow during winter for four months from Nov...to Feburuary.

Commercial Activities.

A large percentage of the commercial activities include the sale of handicraft items such as the woodenspons, other wooden pots for which Chaprote is well known.

Trade.

Chaprote's major trade include potato, onion, and dry fruits, wooden items and handicrafts.

NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS AND OTHER ASSOCIATIONS

There are a number of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working in Chaprote, including the Locally founded Taleem-o-Tarbiat Foundation, as well as AKS, to which a large number of men belong. The World Bank and its various agencies have been active in Chaprote since last few years and all the other agencies except the local one had closed their operations.
The Aga Khan Rural Support Program has worked to build up village organizations with separate groups for men and women and then, through their groups, to launch a number of development activities. The Orange Pilot Project, headquartered in Karachi, has been active in urban development, including working to improve one of Karachi's worst slum areas, with the first focus being on sanitation, followed by a range of community development activities.

GENDER ROLES AND STATUSES

Division of Labor by Gender.

The majority of Chaprote women are homemakers, and men are generally referred to as the breadwinners. The largest percentage of working women in Chaprote are in agricultral sector or teachers. .

The Relative Status of Women and Men.

The women of Chaprote are not regular voters as are the men, and women are regular attendees at colleges. Islam gives women rights to child custody, to alimony, and to inheritance, and they also have the right to conduct business and enter any profession. Women are engaged in agriculture production and the services sector. But women are deprived from all thes rights due less attention of the Govt and NGOs.

MARRIAGE and FAMILY

Marriage.

One form of a Muslim marriage involves a nikah, a formal legal document signed by the bride and groom in front of several witnesses; this establishes that the couple is legally married.
There are other Muslim marriage traditions as well. One includes the mayun or lagan which takes place three or four days before the marriage and starts with the bride retiring to a secluded area of her home. On the day before the marriage there is a menhdi ceremony, when the bride's hands and feet are painted with henna. When the marriage ceremony takes place it is required that at least two witnesses be there, and all the guests offer a short prayer for the success of the marriage. After the ceremony, dry fruits are distributed to the guests.

Inheritance.

Women have inheritance rights so that inheritance benefits can go to women and children after the death of the husband and father.

SOCIALIZATION

Infant Care.

The addition of a new baby to a family is seen as a great blessing and there are a wide variety of ceremonies that take place both at the birth and throughout the different stages of infancy. To help families with infant care there is no child health centers throughout the valley.

Child Rearing and Education.

Most families consider it the privilege of the grandfather to name the baby. Another tradition is that the first hair cut of the baby shuld do the uncle of the baby. The child is usually named within four days after birth and thus is generally known by a nickname until then. A baby boy's hair is shaved off, with the belief that this will then ensure thick growth throughout life.
In February 1998 the prime minister of Pakistan announced a draft for a new education policy from 1998 to 2010, to increase the number of elementary and secondary schools to meet the projected enrollment of twelve million children, including about six million female children in the primary schools by 2003. The draft also suggested establishment of community-based nonformal schools to fill the school gap and to help minimize the cost of primary schools. The new education policy also proposed training about thirty-six thousand teachers each year from 1998 to 2003 to maintain a pupil-teacher ratio of forty to one, with most new teachers to be females. A reduction in military spending was also proposed so funds could be channeled toward countrywide primary education for all children.
In spite of these announcements non of the Govt persom[nal payed attention to the NAs. Studendts of chaprote valley are still travelling five Klm on foot for education because there is no high school within the valley.
Higher Education. Higher education is seen as having an important role in preparing an individual for a successful career. There is only one Govt School up to Middle level inspite of no attention of the Govt literacy rate is more than 70% which shows thurst of education. The Govt offers high scholarships for the Kashmiri students and separate special seats in different institutions throughout the country but students of NAs are deprived of all these rights.

MEDICINE AND HEALTH CARE

At a seminar at Aga Khan Medical University in September of 1998, medical experts reported that perinatal mortality rates in Pakistan were alarmingly high, with an estimated 54 deaths per thousand births. A 1990–1994 national health survey reported that eighty-nine children per thousand under age five died in Pakistan from pneumonia, diarrhea, vaccine prevention diseases, or a combination of them, with most of these deaths occurring in the first week after birth.
A number of programs have been undertaken to attack polio; the World Health Organization and Japan have participated. At the end of the twentieth century, there were one hundred thousand deaths from and at least twenty thousand new cases of paralytic polio each year.
A survey by the Federal Bureau of Statistics in Pakistan indicated that about 50 percent of the basic health units were without doctors and that about 70 percent of government health facilities are without any female staff. Only about 56 percent of the country's people have safe drinking water and just 24 percent have good sanitation.
Programs are underway to expand basic health services for women, develop a women-friendly district health system, and both strengthen and improve human resource capacity to sustain women's health development.

SECULAR CELEBRATIONS

Official national holidays include: Pakistan Day, 23 March; May Day, 1 May; Independence Day, August 14; Defense of Pakistan Day, 6 September; death of Ali Jinnah, 11 September; and birth of Ali Jinnah, 25 December.
The Awami Mela or Polo held annually each March, is a six-day pageant that features sports, cattle displays, and enormous crowds of people. Special events include polo,Dasi music show, male dance shows.
Often a national holiday is declared when Pakistan's national cricket team wins a major international match.

THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES

Support for the Arts.

The Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) has established the National Gallery, the Sadequinn Gallery, and the National Music and Dance Center. They also regularly hold exhibitions, seminars and theater workshops.It is the right of every individual to participate in these activities unfortunatelly we are deprived.
In the early 1970s the National Film Development Corporation was formed to use film to make people aware of social and cultural values. The corporation holds film festivals regularly but only for the people who are living in cities. In the vallies there are many sites for the film makers the some time visited but neglected their rights.

Literature.

Chaprote is one of the oldest valley in Nagar State. There were many peots in shina language but unfortunately those voices had not recorded due lack of technology. One of the most famous name in the history is the great Baitham who was a geat singer of his own songs. He sung song for his beloved through his life. First time he sung on the day of his beloved, so his songs are famous for the singers who were singing on marriage cermonies.
The other one is a lady belongs to the "Puyaer" family who sung songs in the context of grief due to ristrictions imposed by her family to marry with her beloved.

Graphic Arts.

There are a wide variety of graphic art examples, including handpainted clay products, the hand design for batik products, and block printing called chapan and shuka. Glazed pottery with handpainted designs is common throughout the valley, and artistic work in clay and on wooden furnitures goes back to many years of years. They were skilled in making different designs on woods in their houses.
Chaproti handicrafts are as varied as the ethnic backgrounds of the craftsmen and include work in wood, beaten brass and copperware, pottery, and jewelry, a wide variety of fabrics that feature embroidery, and the hand-designed carpets for which Chaprote is famouse, but unfortunatelly due to the negligence of the Govt of Pakistan all these had burried under poverty.

Performance Arts.

There are so many dance and music performance arts in the valley—many unique to the ethnic culture of the performer—that they are almost considered common rather than unique. Music and dance are done in the both classical and folk form. Usually the performer wears a costume that features ethnic design.
Just as the costume worn by the performer identifies the ethnic group, so does the music or performance. For example, while dancing in a circle is the basic formation for valley's folk dances, there are also many versions like Shin , Yeshkun but they all begin with dancers in two columns accompanied by pipe and drum music. It is a dance that is performed as part of a victory or celebration.
There are two main families of musical instruments in Chaprote and many musical instruments; the most well known are the sitar, Tutak, Suranae. The most popular of all the instruments is the tutak, suranae and drum, the drum is reputedly the most important accompaniment for all Shinaki music and dancing. Nearly all the instruments are used primarily for performances; the Western concept of orchestral music is not part of the musical heritage. However, Western instruments such as the piano, violin, and accordion are now often included in Shinaki concerts because they are adaptable to Shinaki music.

THE STATE OF THE PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

In the social sciences, one of the major concerns is the low rate of literacy and corrupt social system in Pakistan which directly affects the societies of the innocent villagers. Efforts are being made and outside the educational establishment to address this concern. Another social concern is that frequently young children must work—most often in agricultural sector —to supplement the family's income and sometimes to provide the sole income in the family. As a result, the children do not have time to attend school. Efforts made to address this problem have often involved trying to find work for the parents are possible but the Govt of Pakistan hadn't cosider issues like this.
In the physical sciences one of the largest problems is that because of ever-increasing population growth, natural resources are often misused, with land being lost to desertification, waterlogging, and soil erosion. There is increasing contamination of surface water from agricultural chemicals. Because of the important role of agriculture in the overall economy of the country, agricultural production is and will continue to be greatly threatened by land degradation unless solutions can be found rapidly.