THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE > PAKISTAN > GILGIT BALTISTAN G-B police uniform gets traditional makeover
GILGIT: With
one eye on the rising number of tourists flocking to the area and the other on
preserving a fast disappearing tradition, the Gilgit-Baltistan police on
Tuesday formally inducted a traditional piece of headgear into their uniform.
The cap, locally known as “Khoi”, will be
donned by the traffic police in the region.
The addition to the uniform was formally
made by Inspector General of G-B Police Zafar Iqbal Awan, who put the caps on
the heads of traffic officials in Gilgit on Tuesday.
“This new arrangement has been made to give
the police a friendly look,” said Mubarak Jan, the official spokesman of G-B
police.
“It
will serve two objectives,” Jan told The Express Tribune.
“It will help promote culture as well help promote tourism for which the region
is famous.”
He added that the region was fast becoming a
tourist-destination, especially in the summer, and wearing traditional clothing
would help give them a softer image among foreign and domestic tourists.
The decision stems from the G-B government’s
move to preserve and promote local culture. Last year, the G-B government had
stipulated September 1 as ‘cap day’ with all government employees in G-B
required to don the traditional caps. Eventually, the day was celebrated on
October 1, though the government now plans to hold the event annually on
September 1.
Khoi is still an integral part of G-B’s
formal dress in this mountain-locked region and is worn by many as a symbol of
pride. The soft, round and flat-topped cap is usually white in colour and is
made from the finest wool. They are usually decorated with either a tuft of
feathers or a flower – shanti. Together, the cap and the feather are called
Shanti-Khoi.
However, for the police, the cap has been
slightly modified with an emblem of the G-B police added to the spot where the
feather is inserted into the cap.
“It will certainly be different look when
one finds a policeman wearing a local cap,” said Kamran Khan, a resident.
Manzar Shigri, a local journalist, was
apprehensive about the feathers being used. Referring to the age-old practice
when Shanti would be made from feathers of birds, he said that the government
must ensure that artificial feathers are used.
This is not the first time the cap has
become part of a uniform. Previously, Major William Brown’s pre-partition
Gilgit Scouts used the cap as part of their uniform. Today, the modern version
of the scouts – the Northern Light Infantry Regiment (NLI) – includes the cap in
their uniform.
Published
in The Express Tribune, January 11th, 2017.
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