read about them in a Punajbi book ‘Lok Tawaareekh’ today. As per that book, they still exist in Punjab and some parts of Sindh. A religion / sect that was established during British rule and they have believe ‘jo dil kahe wo khuda ka hukm hai… What your heart says, consider it your Lord’s order’. Therefore, there are no restrictions in their lives. they can consume alcohol and there is no concept of apni parai zananai. Every lady is halal for every man
Yes. They’re animists, so they don’t have any of Islam’s “restrictions” (for lack of a better word). Many tribes are also matrilineal, so the institution of marriage is quite flexible. Premarital relationships are quite acceptable and having children out of wedlock isn’t an issue either as family lineage is traced on the mother’s side anyway.
My husband has a friend who is studying their culture extensively (doing a postgrad work with his University) and has even spent time in villages in Chitral documenting their culture. Apparently, they don’t have an issue with intermarrying with different ethnic groups, so there is hope!
There was this drama from PTV in 1990s, where a shehri babu had to pass sometime in Kalash due road blockage during snowfall and a girl fell in love with him. He marries him and goes back with promise to come back. he couldn’t return and afterwards marries a lady in Lahore. the girl’s sister then started doing some kala jadu on his new wife. It was interesting as was shot in northern areas of Pakistan.
You know, I was joking about this as well. I asked how exactly does one find out that they have no issue marrying foreigners? His reply: “One asks.”
In all seriousness though, he also mentioned that they also don’t have any issue with intermarrying with people of different religions as their belief is that all religions take you closer to God.
The article in post no.2 states that almost all Gulab Dasi people migrated to India. Wondering, where they settled. Probably, migration lead to end of collective existence of this sect