Assaulting the Pakhtun culture

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 who were target killed because they insisted that Talibanisation is the antithesis of Pakhtun culture Essentialism means that people have an intrinsic ‘essence’ that never changes. Social scientists agree that all human relations and activities that come under the socio-cultural realm are open to changes in accordance with the changing requirements of time and circumstances. The Pakhtun have been assaulted with essentialism in literature and media. A latest example is Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed’s article ‘The 1947-48 Kashmir War’ (Daily Times,...

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