Auto racing in Baluchistan
Auto racing is considered one of the ultimate luxurious hobbies in the under developed part of the world, while in the developed part of the world this game is played at the professionally too. In this part of the world Auto racing is enjoyed by only those families which have historically ruled their areas and have enough incomes and wealth at their disposal to earn them this kind of a luxury. But for the last couple of years, the Auto racing has kicked off in the province of Baluchistan which currently operates under a tribal structure; with the help of the Arab Sheikhs who spend a lot of petro-dollars on the luxury.
These Arabs come to the Pakistani Province Baluchistan which borders with Afghanistan and Iran. The Arabs have contacts with the local Sardars (Tribal Chiefs) and come with their cars and luxury equipment to take part in these racing games. Currently, the racing takes place in the area determined by the Governor of the Province, Nawab Zulfiqar Khan Magsi. The area is suitable for the desert racing because it is covered by desert and water is not available. The land remains barren throughout the year which makes the terrain fit for the desert racing.
The purpose of these visits by the Arab individuals is not just the car racing. The come every year alongwith their state of the art equipment to hunt in the area which is famous for wild goats (locally know as Markhor) and houbara bustard which is locally called the Taloor. The already rare bird is hunted by using GPS trackers which are tied to the trained Falcons which makes the hunt easy.
The rough terrain makes it almost impossible to reach accessories like Gasoline for the racing cars. A sufficient investment has also been made at Gandawa by the Arabs by establishing a Gas Station for the availability of Gasoline that is used in car racing. A part from these high net worth individuals, the Pakistani elite also take part in these car racing events along with their hosts (The Tribal Chiefs)
For the local populace the event is a major source of entertainment because the people of the area are generally very poor except for the wealthy Tribal Chiefs. These people have seldom watched such type of events . According to a local “the auto racing in these tracks (which I happen to see) is fun. May be you should come next time to watch the games with us.”
The autos used in these games are made especially on order because the terrain is such that the cars need special equipment and capabilities before racing down on these racing tracks. On asking one of the local Mirs (Sub – Tribal Head), it was discovered that most of the cars are imported from Dubai. Given the amount of incomes and wealth enjoyed by the people involved in these luxurious activities the news is not surprising. There is also news that there are high levels of bets placed on these events, about which the general masses are unaware.
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