Pashtuns Archive

Pashtun nationalism — by Dr Manzur Ejaz: Most of the time, secular Pashtun nationalists have highlighted their economic deprivation. But if the Pashtuns’ share in the army, the bureaucracy and the economy in Pakistan is higher than the proportion of their population, such an argument becomes
Pak-US dialogue: a Pakhtun perspective — by Farhat Taj: Basically, the jirga is saying that it does not trust the military establishment, which is leading the dialogue with the US. The military establishment will follow the policy of strategic depth in Afghanistan, which is the key cause of
Whither “Progressive” Bacha Khan’s Wife? – by Yasser Latif Hamdani: Cross posted from Pak Tea House “If political consciousness is awakened amongst our women, remember, your children will not have much to worry about.” Founding Father of Pakistan, Mr. Mahomed Ali Jinnah, Lahore, March 22, 1940 The title? No
Strategic dialogue and the Pashtun — by Zubair Torwali: The Pashtun, who undoubtedly are the direct victims of terrorism and the war on terror, have never been asked to express their views in this regard. The Pashtuns are now so tired of the strategic depth policy that they
Dialogue about Pakhtuns without Pakhtuns! — by Shahid Ilyas: Talking is not a bad thing, but when it is done without the participation of those who are the subject of such talks, it will most likely result in a disaster Pakistan’s political and military top brass will soon
Tribal warriors: a response to Farhat Taj – by Ishtiaq Ahmed: For me, ‘tribal’ is not synonymous with Pukhtun. All Pukhtuns are not tribals, even when most tribals are Pukhtuns. Within tribals, the awareness about badal or retaliation upon which Pukhtunwali is based keeps them under control in such situations,
PML-N and ANP disagree over renaming the NWFP – by Amir Wasim: New name for NWFP threatens to hit constitutional reforms The blame game between the two parties started a day after the 26-member all-party parliamentary committee on constitutional reforms completed the first reading of the draft of the proposed 18th
What Punjab CM should learn from Taliban? – by Ismail Khan: How does it feel caught in the eye of the storm? For nearly seven years, the people of the NWFP and the adjacent tribal regions and the security forces braved bombings and terrorist attacks, laying down their lives and
PakUS Strategic Partnership without Pashtuns: Contributed by: Nasir Ahmad Pashtun Peace Forum Press Release Toronto – (March 19, 2010 ) – The United States and Pakistan will hold their first strategic dialogue at the ministerial level in Washington DC on March 24. The significance
Assaulting the Pakhtun culture: a rejoinder to Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed — by Farhat Taj: The Pakhtun culture is reflected in Ghaffar Khan’s non-violent movement, in the mysticism of Rahman Baba’s poetry and in the romanticism of Ghani Khan’s poetry. This is a society that produced hundreds of anti-Taliban lashkar leaders all over Pakhtunkhwa
HE Hamid Karzai and FATA – by Zar Ali Musazai: People of FATA are grateful to His Excellency President Karzai for his statement against FCR in FATA President Hamid Karzai was right to say that Frontier Crimes Regulations commonly known as FCR is a terrible legacy of the British
Who is behind Zaid Hamid’s crush India brigade? – by Kamran Shafi: The crazy Right and rump Pakistan I was to regale you with other stories to do with our security establishment’s tortured and seemingly futile hunt for the very elusive holy grail of strategic depth in Afghanistan (I ask you)
Well done, students of Peshawar University and Pashtun Aman Committee – by Nasir Ahmad: Pashtunkhwa Peace Forum, a worldwide group of Pashtun students and professional, lauds students of Peshawar University and Pashtun Aman Committee for stopping Zaid Hamid from speaking at the Islamia College Campus. A belligerent hate monger, racist, chauvinist and thug,
Peshawar: The tale of an orphan city – by Ismail Khan: The scars of wars went deeper and left an impression not only on the social and cultural fibre but also devastated Peshawar’s infrastructure. — Photo by AP “Give me a place to stand on, and I will move the
Zaid Hamid faces tough resistance in Peshawar: This was really a bad day for Zahid Hamid in Islamia College Peshawar when he was fully resisted by workers of Amn Tehrik and both factions of Pakhtun Students Federation. Zaid Hamid arrived today with full VIP protocol to
Amn Tehrik protest in Peshawar: We strongly condemn arrest of Amn Tehrik leaders; Governor NWFP should be removed immediately because of his support for a pro-terrorism cleric. Members of Amn Tehrik and leaders of various students organisations who opposed Zaid Hamid’s entry into the
The dauntless heroes of NWFP Police — by Farhat Taj: A police officer and bystanders remove an injured victim of a suicide car bomb in Peshawar. Photograph: A Majeed/AFP/Getty Images The public perceive the police as as much an innocent casualty as the innocent civilians in the state’s pursuit
Remembering Ajmal Khattak – by Harris Khalique: Sunday party In the darkness and apathy that surround us, the passing of another great man, scholar, poet and politician, Ajmal Khattak, was yet another blow to his comrades and disciples who believe in creating a modern, progressive and
Peace Carvan: A journey for peace – by Shujuaddin Qureshi: It was an unusual gathering at Karachi’s Cantt railway station, where over 100 people from civil society organisations, intellectuals, political and trade union workers, and journalists had gathered for a peaceful cause. Sixty of those gathered, including more than
The real ‘National’ languages – by NAD Pukhtunyar: The Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, while observing the following: 1 Pakistan is a state comprising five different ethnicities/nations; 2 The national, economic and cultural rights of all the nationalities are invoilable; 3 All institutions of the state such as
Give Pashto official status – PkMAP, PkSO: The PkMAP and the PkSO called upon the government to declare Pushto as the official language in Pakhtun-dominated areas.—Photo by APP QUETTA: The Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party and Pakhtunkhwa Students Organisation called upon the government on Sunday to declare
Political Autonomy for Pashtuns – by Pir Rokhan: Political autonomy is the first pre-requisite for the progress and development of a nation. If we trace back the reasons for the underdevelopment of a nation all of them converge to one root cause and that is – the
Pukhtunkhwa: The Land of Pashtuns – by Mukhtar Ali Abazai: Recent remarks by the PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif and PML-Q about renaming of the province have once again generated controversy. Abaseen, Khyber and Hazara Pukhtunkhwa? What does it mean? A joke with millions of Pukhtoons? Leaders and workers from
Peshawar romantics defy Taliban for Valentine’s: Thanks: Dawn, 13 Feb 2010 This picture taken on February 11, 2010, shows a woman choosing Valentine’s Day gifts at a shop in Peshawar. — AFP PESHAWAR: Hip young romantics in Pakistan’s most dangerous city are splashing out on
Farewell, Ajmal Khattak: September 15, 1925 – February 7, 2010 With the death of Ajmal Khattak, a renowned leftist-nationalist politician, poet and writer, another chapter in history has closed. Khattak was greatly influenced by Bacha Khan, the great Pakhtun nationalist leader and
Badshah Khan: The unsung champion of federalism and democracy – by Nadir Ali Dirojay Pukhtunyar: The Pashtun homeland in the south and east of Afghanistan and the north-west of Pakistan has become synonymous with terrorism and violence. Certain quarters suggest that the Pashtun region and society is intrinsically violence driven. The Pashtuns have a
Wali Khan: The Frontier Liberal – by Dr. Muhammad Taqi: Originally published in the Peshawar Statesman: The Frontier Liberal: a tribute to Wali Khan By Dr. Mohammad Taqi January 25, 2010 گریزد از صف ما ہر کہ مرد غوغا نیست کسے کہ کشتہ نہ شد از قبیلہ ما نیست
Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Islam and non-violence — by Ishtiaq Ahmed: Abdul Ghaffar Khan was a man of peace. He approached Islam in the hope of finding a complementary message to Gandhi’s interpretation of Hinduism as Ram Raj and ahimsa (non-violence) and he found it
Pakhtun diaspora: irresponsible and insensitive — by Farhat Taj: Rich Arabs in the Middle East are ‘earning’ a place in paradise in the life hereafter through never ending generous donations to the Taliban and the madrassas producing foot soldiers and a jihadi mindset on the Pakhtun land. They
Taliban attack the tomb of Rahman Baba in Peshawar: William Dalrymple on the attack: Wahhabi radicals are determined to destroy a gentler, kinder Islam: General Zia’s Wahhabi legacy in Pakistan: In identifying General Zia-ul-Haq’s great dis-service to Islam and Pakistan, Green Sufi writes: “It is hard to say the General’s rule was a bed of roses for Islam. Some steps he took could
Why do Taliban (and their supporters) attack secualr Pashtuns?: US responsible for the situation in Pakistan Irfan Khan Momand UK irfan188@hotmail.com Source: “FRONTIER POST” FEB.12, 2008 The recent suicide attack on Awami national Party rally in Charsadda was certainly a very shameful act. We condemned this suicide attack
Allama Iqbal, Bacha Khan and terrorists – by Suroosh Irfani: It might well be that the heartless war our homegrown jihadis and Afghan Taliban are waging against Pakistan exemplifies Islam’s dangerous inversion that Iqbal had warned against some three generations ago. Such inversion has virtually displaced Bacha Khan and
Our salute to the martryrs of ANP in the war on terror – by Tanvir Qaiser Shahid: It is not only Taliban but also the so called Ulema (scholars), who have kept quiet on the atrocities of their fellow Mullah brethren, who are responsible
ANP needs support by all Pakistanis; They are fighting our war against Taliban….: TTP threatens to kill more ANP leaders * Baitullah aide claims responsibility for attack on ANP lawmaker Staff Report PESHAWAR: A close aide of Baitullah Mehsud and senior commander of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Thursday claimed responsibility
Can an honourable Pakhtun do that? Imran Khan, better answer.: Militants kill three women in Swat By Our Correspondent MINGORA: Three women were killed in Swat on Thursday as Taliban continued their attack on people they consider to be pro-government. The militants also blew up two government schools. The
Pakhtuns protest in London against the atrocities of Taliban: Pakhtuns are a brave peace-loving nation. They mind their own business and hate acts of violence, religious, ethnic and sectarian terrorism. This was the message of a grand protest organized by the Pukhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party. The demonstrators protested
Objectifying the Pakhtun: The false fantasy of "Operation Lion Heart"; the Taliban and the dubious role of Pakistan Army….: Objectifying the PakhtunWednesday, December 31, 2008Farhat Taj Some people on the editorial pages of The News have have fantasies in which they objectify the Pakhtun. It is as if the Pakhtuns do not human needs, constraints and concerns but
Unchecked fanaticism in NWFP and the criminal silence of Pakistan’s religious parties: Unchecked fanaticism THAT, at least until the time of writing, there was no loss of life is perhaps the only redeeming feature of the Taliban’s attack on three schools in Peshawar on Monday. There were no casualties because there
The issue of ‘Greater Pakhtunistan’ and trading of allegations between the JUI-F and the ANP – By Hamid Mir: The recent emergence of the issue of ‘Greater Pakhtunistan’ and trading of allegations between the JUI-F and the ANP should be a matter of serious concern for all patriot Pakistanis who would like democracy to succeed in Pakistan. In
In defence of Bacha Khan – by Dr. Haider Lashari: Keep the record straight, Mr. Haroon-ur-Rashid. In defence of Bacha Khan – By Dr. Haider Lashari In response to the disinformation campaign against ANP, PPP and other progressive parties by the supporters of Mullah and Military in Pakistan.