ISLAMABAD: Hundreds of local residents clashed with members of Kalash tribe in Chitral on Thursday after a teenager claimed she was forced to convert to Islam, police and residents said.
Police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd attacking a house in the Kalash tribe’s valley of Bumburate in Chitral district, where the girl had gone to give a police statement about her conversion, said Kalash activist Luke Rehmat.
The Kalash are only around 4,000 in number, according to Rehmat
Increasingly their youth are converting to Islam, prompting activists to campaign to preserve the traditions of the ancient, diminishing tribe.