Daud Khattak, a correspondent with RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal, visited one Kalash village to witness some of their unique traditions, in life and death, and the scale of threats they face.
With The ‘Fairy People’ Of Pakistan
High in Pakistan’s Hindu Kush mountains, scattered villages hold one of the world’s most imperiled religious minorities, the Kalash.
![A woman selling Kalash clothing. After slowly declining in numbers, recent years have shown a slight increase in the population of the Kalash to around 4,000, but their culture faces pressure from many fronts.](https://gdb.rferl.org/4f8cfdeb-1199-47f9-bdd9-d00a545bb6ab_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A woman selling Kalash clothing. After slowly declining in numbers, recent years have shown a slight increase in the population of the Kalash to around 4,000, but their culture faces pressure from many fronts.
![Kalash schoolkids cluster in front of the camera. The Kalash are part of a wider ethnic group that once stretched into neighboring Afghanistan.](https://gdb.rferl.org/6ebf7111-0859-4359-868f-da1165c77ab3_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Kalash schoolkids cluster in front of the camera. The Kalash are part of a wider ethnic group that once stretched into neighboring Afghanistan.
![Kalash houses near the frontier with Afghanistan. Across the border, the related Nuristani minority were converted to Islam in the 19th century. (Photo by Shutterstock).](https://gdb.rferl.org/3aebe766-5a42-42bd-a400-130b30a57d39_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Kalash houses near the frontier with Afghanistan. Across the border, the related Nuristani minority were converted to Islam in the 19th century. (Photo by Shutterstock).
![Kalash schoolgirls during morning assembly. Kalash children learn in mixed schools alongside the Muslim children of the surrounding villages. RFE/RL’s Khattak said he watched Kalash children being taught Islamic scripture during lessons. There are currently no separate schools for Kalash children.](https://gdb.rferl.org/a52b180a-9c6f-42c7-bf4a-7cf6f6fe7ca2_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Kalash schoolgirls during morning assembly. Kalash children learn in mixed schools alongside the Muslim children of the surrounding villages. RFE/RL’s Khattak said he watched Kalash children being taught Islamic scripture during lessons. There are currently no separate schools for Kalash children.