SCOUTING IN INDIA

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIII, Issue 20669, 6 March 1937, Page 10 (Supplement)

SCOUTING IN INDIA

NUMBERS INCREASING IN SPITE OF DIFFICULTIES (Continued) The story of the growth of Scouting on the North-West Frontier of India is a romantic one, not merely because in a brief decade there are now some 5,000 Scouts scattered along this outpost of Empire, but more especially because of the way in which this growth has taken place, often in spite of great difficulties and the fact that the Movement has had to overcome a very deeprooted conservatism among the people of that country. The beginnings of Scouting through the efforts of Mr Towle were to be found solely among the big schools dotted along the Frontier, and these have been the back-bone of the Movement since the beginning. But the more thrilling side of this spread of Scouting is the way in which new opportunities have opened up Let me give a few examples:

There is the Inedependent State of Swat, where through the efforts of a keen Scouter a group was formed at Saidu Sharif, and which in time will become the main-spring of Scouting in that State. The ruler himself is very interested, and only last year Scouts from that State combined with others in the neighbouring agency for a very successful camp. Then there is the Independent State of Chitral, cut off as it is from civilisation by many days’ march. Here, too, one can see the beginnings of the spread of Scouting. The A.D.C. of the ruler of this State has now been trained as a Scoutmaster and we are looking forward to the growth of the Movement as a result of his efforts. Perhaps it is not too much to hope that the State of Dir, which lies between Swat and Chitral "and in which there are many warlike elements, will shortly also be brought within the scope of the Movement. Of one thing we can be sure, and that is that when Scouting has a grip on that State

many of the troubles of the ruler will be solved. Going farther west there is the Kurram Valley, which runs right up to Afghanistan. The spread of the Movement here, due largely to the energetic work of Kwaja Muhammad Ashraf, will be one of the most interesting and romantic stories which Scouting will have to tell when the history of the Movement on the Frontier comes to be written. Lying as it does between the warlike country of the Afridis and the untamed tribes of Afghanistan, the Kurram Valiev is a strategic point, and it is good to know that right along the Valley there are now groups of Boy Scouts and Cubs. Further, there are several Scouters in that Valley who have close connections with the Tirah. It is not too much to hope or expect that these keen men will be able shortly to interest their friends among the Afridis sufficiently to start Scouting there. Perhaps this is a dream of the future, but no one who has seen the amazing effects of the Movement on the boys of the Frontier can doubt the amazing results that will accrue from such an advance. Going farther south to Waziristan, where the name of the Masud conjures up the thought of raids and blood feuds, it is rather thrilling to know that through the efforts of Altaf Husain Scouting has started in three or four centres, and is kept going and up to scratch by means of the telephone. The civilising influence of thts work cannot be over-estimated. To take one example—A Masud boy. the head of his clan, who was involved in a blood feud became a Scout, went to the Jamboree at Arrowe Park in 1929, and has now returned to his country with ideas of peace and brotherhood.

One might also mention the small Independent State of Amb on the Indus where as yet there is no Scouting, but where it is hoped that the Movement will be started within the course of the next twelve months through the efforts of the Headmaster of the Government High School, Haripur. The possibilities of the spread of Scouting right along the Frontier can be illustrated by the story of what was done at Chaman on the border of Baluchistan and Afghanistan last year. Here an ex-Girl Guide and her husband. Major Upton, have enabled Scouts and Cubs to spring into being and have their own camp. This again is a key position and can be the centre from which god work can spread to neighbouring villages To all who have had any share in this great work the thanks of Scouts everywhere are due, and we hope that their efforts will be redoubled tn the realisation that they are helping to make a history which will be more interesting than many of the stories ot exploits on the Indian North-West Frontier. —“The Scouter"