Source: Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080611.wkalasha11/BNStory/International/home
If Osama bin Laden is hiding in the remote mountains and valleys of Chitral, he has an ancient pagan race for uncomfortable company.
On the northwest tip of Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan's Nuristan province, Chitral has long been thought a possible refuge for Mr. bin Laden, speculation that was re-ignited at the end of May by news reports of his presence there. The area is inaccessible, tucked into the high peaks and narrow valleys of the Hindu Kush range. From there, it would be easy to dodge through secret mountain routes between the two countries.
Chitral is the home of the Kalasha, a unique pagan civilization that has lived in the area for as much as 2,000 years or more.
According to locals, Mr. bin Laden sheltered with a Kalasha family in Chitral during his first Afghan jihad in the 1980s against the Soviet Union. But with his views having hardened since then, Mr. bin Laden is unlikely to feel at home now among a polytheistic people whose men and women mix freely.
The Kalasha are relaxed and music-loving, fond of wine and colourful display. Their culture faces pressure from an increasingly conservative mainstream in Pakistan, from militant Islam and from a planned new road that will open the door to the outside world.