Rosie Gabrielle exposes the reality of Hunza Verse Festival
Cultural inappropriation
Pakistan is turning upside down culturally, for the last decade. The country is seeing movements that we never saw before. While people are seeing positive changes in society the negative impacts are also taking over. Underground parties are pushing the cultural boundaries a bit too much. A new ‘partying’ trend in the North of Pakistan has also started happening in the last 3 years. Finally, Rosie Gabrielle spoke over the matter.
Rave party of Malam Jabba 2020
First, it was a rave party arranged by the ‘Harvest Music Festival Pakistan’ that happened in Malam Jabba, where the dance party video got viral over social media causing a stir among people. The Frontier Tower Hotel, Swat owner was arrested over vulgarity and SOP failure during a pandemic.
Hunza Verse by The Eventum 2021
And now it’s another music party ‘Hunza Verse’ hosted privately by The Eventum in Hunza, Gilgit, where famous and underground artists performed including Daniyal Zafar, Anoushay Abbasi, Hasan Raheem, Maanu, Talal Qureshi, Mamia Shahjaffar, Vivid, Saad Darabu, Rizzy Rozeo, and more. This caused a backlash among netizens as it was culturally inappropriate. Rosie Gabrielle also stated that this event was marketed as a Yoga, Arts, and Music festival which was simply a gimmick.
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Rosie Gabrielle shows her displeasure
Rosie Gabrielle pointed out the irony in a post, she wrote that, “YOU WILL DESTROY YOUR COUNTRY.”
She showed her disappointment as she wrote, “As tourism rises in Pakistan, especially local tourists, there is a growing problem that needs to be IMMEDIATELY addressed before it’s too late. Since covid happened & traveling outside the country has decreased, there’s been an influx of people flocking north. But instead of bringing just their smiles & leaving only good memories, they are bringing bad behaviors, drugs, vulgarity, rave parties & leaving a lot of TRASH!”
She further said, “I understand that people need to express themselves, release pent-up energies & get out of their suffocating lives. But coming to sacred land, feeling privileged & entitled to destroy it, bringing your toxic habits to innocent communities is NOT okay!”
Someone even shared a message with her, that locals surely did not approve this kind of cultural in-appropriation in their cities. Moreover, the message said that we as locals, we cherish our food, values, and shelter more than anything and what do we get in return? The culture that doesn’t even exist here.
Raising voice against the destruction
The anonymous note also read that bringing drugs to a place is equal to spreading corruption to this place. City people are destroying our lands by bringing their dirt.
In the end, the anonymous letter quoted that, “Please it’s an appeal from my community to the people of the cities, don’t spread corruption on our lands we want to continue to respect our roots. Don’t try to destroy us by giving us fake and disrespectful exposure. We want to continue to be respectful to our guests with peace and mutual respect please don’t take that away. From the mountain people.”
In the past, Hunza News media outlet also requests a ban on the tourists permanently who are seen polluting and trashing Gilgit. This is downright shameful for the people who are thinking that the North of Pakistan is a place where you can leave your trash and party with electronic music. There should be proper accountability and check and balance from the respective authorities.
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