Remembering Mahboob Subadar
'Zameen kha gaiee asmaan kaisay kaisay'

Comment 1

The free style polo of Chitral and Northern areas of Pakistan , and the name of Subadar Mehboob Alam famously know as “Mehboob Subadar” are closely linked. The personality of Subadar Sahab was the charm and fascination of polo. He served as polo coach in all the grand polo events for more then four decades. Without his lead, the teams to the centre of the polo ground, and the polo matches will have really less thrill and enjoyment for both the players and spectators. Subadar Sahab was well known not only as polo coach, he also did his best to promote and keep other cultural activities of Chitral alive. His proverbial and coding talks dispensing happiness among people of all age groups can never be forgotten.
The death of Mehboob Suabadar Sahab’s is great loss for Chitral in general, for people of Jughoor specially, and for his family in particular. Subadar Sahab’s iconic personality, his sweet talks will be remembered in the history of Chitral for ever. May Allah (swt) keep his soul in rest (Ameen) -- Dr. Khalil (Jughooru) Canada 30 Jan 2012

Subedar Mahboob Alam and Chitral Polo Ground
 

Comment 2
If one could count the foot prints of an individual on the Chitral polo ground, he would find those of late Subedar Mahboob Alam’s in the millions. He not only walked on it, but also embodied all that it represented as a space of cultural activities. His death, after a long and healthy life, brings an era to a closure. As long as this national sport of Chitral continues, as long as the Chitral Shahi Polo Ground remains vibrant with the players, the musical band and the spectators, and as long as the horses gallop and dance to the tune of the music, Mahboob Alam’s memory will live on.

When I was a student in the Government High School Chitral from 1969 to 1971, my impression of the late Subedar was only someone with a sharp mustache in white attire, wearing white woolen Chitrali cap, a staff in one hand and polo ball in the other leading the competing mounted teams to the centre of the polo ground for the face off. In the course of time, these things became more meaningful beyond the personality of the Subedar. His staff, white Chitrali cap with a flower in front tucked to its border and a ball, all symbolizing the confidence and pride of a man in his culture who loved his culture. His delightful and charming use of Khowar proverbs is now an ingrained in the polo experience.

The Shahi Polo Ground has a special connection with the late Subedar and this connection needs to be appropriately acknowledged. Given the scarcity of land, especially flat land, Chitral Polo Ground is a great cultural asset; it is ideally located and has the capacity to accommodate thousands of spectators. Its twin parallel grounds have remained unaffected unlike those in the valleys. It is now time that this cultural asset in the capital of the district should include a dignified space for the public to sit and enjoy the national sport. At present, only a small stage for the dignitaries is raised and the spectators walk around all over or standing or sitting wherever they can find a space at the slope above the ground. Mahboob Alam’s death, sad as it is provides an opportunity for reflection as to how to improve this sport facility which besides polo has potential to include spaces for other sports as well.

Chitral culture has survived thanks to our poets, musicians, singers, dancing artists and other athletes. I say survived because from mid 1970s onward the hard-line anti-culture legalistic Salafi version of the Arab Islamists wanted to do away with any indigenous cultural elements, of course with money coming from the booming petrodollar. But our artists, our cultural groups resisted and salvaged our dwindling cultural heritage. In this effort, our tradition of polo sport fortunately attracted the national decision makers more than any other aspect of the Chitral culture; several national leaders have come to Chitral on the annual tournament played at Shandur; I happened to be there when late Banazir Bhutto came as Prime Minister of Pakistan along with her husband, the current President who participated as a player. The sport has also enjoyed a consistent support of the district administration and the Chitral Scout.

Let me return to the primary purpose of writing this short article that is to honor the memory of late Subedar Mahboob Alam. Recently, political parties forming governments at the federal and provincial levels are naming educational institutions and other infrastructure projects after their heroes. Chitral is only one district with distinct culture and languages in the whole province and should be acknowledged as such and recognize those who have served in preserving and promoting this specificity of the Chitral culture. I propose a project to develop the Shahi Polo Ground of Chitral. As I mentioned that there is a wide space above the twin polo grounds which can be developed into a modern pavilion. The space below the water channel can be developed for the general public and above the channel for the families. We should not forget that there is literally no space for family leisure time. This pavilion can provide an opportunity to the population of Chitral town and its adjacent villages as well as the visitors from the upper valleys to have their families with them and enjoy the pleasure of polo tournament. It is not too much to expect that the district, provincial and federal governments can join hands and contribute to this project and our representatives at all three levels can make this happen. Further contribution can come from the district administration, Chitral Scout and non government organizations whose mandate it is to promote cultural activities. This project should be named as "Subedar Mahboob Aam Pavilion".  -- Dr. Mir Baiz Khan, Toronto, Canada, 05 Feb 2012

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