Manzoor Pashteen speaking at a Pashtun Tahafuz Movement rally. During the PTM's first, seismic protests in 2018, a chant emerged and became an anthem for thousands of disenchanted Pashtun youth. The words articulated helplessness, frustration and collective loss, but nestled within was also a fierce desire for freedom. In this, the anthem illustrated an intense thematic shift in Pashtun poetry over the last 10 to 15 years, going from the subjects of love, mysticism and beauty that earlier dominated the tradition to ones of war, oppression and a longing for peace. Photo courtesy: Voice of America/Picryl
Manzoor Pashteen speaking at a Pashtun Tahafuz Movement rally. During the PTM's first, seismic protests in 2018, a chant emerged and became an anthem for thousands of disenchanted Pashtun youth. The words articulated helplessness, frustration and collective loss, but nestled within was also a fierce desire for freedom. In this, the anthem illustrated an intense thematic shift in Pashtun poetry over the last 10 to 15 years, going from the subjects of love, mysticism and beauty that earlier dominated the tradition to ones of war, oppression and a longing for peace. Photo courtesy: Voice of America/Picryl
Culture

Pashto poetry’s journey from love to war and resistance

With Pashtuns suffering massive violence from the Taliban, Islamist militants and the Pakistan state, Pashto poetry today reflects the community’s new blood-soaked reality
Hurmat Ali Shah

Hurmat Ali Shah is currently a postdoctoral researcher. He writes on socio-political issues and is particularly interested in core–periphery relations in Pakistan.

Published on: 

During the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement's first, seismic protests in 2018, a chant emerged and became an anthem for Pakistan's thousands of disenchanted Pashtun youth. 

Inqilab! Inqilab!
Zwanan mu qatal kegy
Da sanga azaadi da?
Pukthun pake gharqeqy
Da sanga azaadi da?
Da jwand berray mattegy
Da sanga azaadi da?
Inqilab! inqilab!

Revolution! Revolution!
Our young are being killed
What kind of freedom is this?
Pashtuns get ruined
What kind of freedom is this?
The ship of life is wrecked
What kind of freedom is this?
Revolution! Revolution!

Che na rakawe mung la huqooq da insaninyat
Pakar che bayad okrru spesalay baghawat
Azaadi! azaadi!
Malaly me guregy
Satruna ye mategy
Zwanan mu qatal kegy
Inqilab! Inqilab!

If they don’t give us our rights
We should rise in a daring rebellion
Freedom! Freedom!
Our Malalais are dishonoured
The sanctity of our homes is violated
Our young are being killed
Freedom! Freedom!

Da aman marghay jarrey pa dy bandy panjru
Bache zamunga khwar shu da stasu faislu ke

The birds of peace are crying in cages
Our kids’ lives have been ruined in your decisions

Zanzeer rana taawegy
Da sanga azaadi da
Awaaz mu na rasegy
Da sanga azaadi da
Inqilab! Inqilab!

We are being chained
What kind of freedom is this?
Our voice doesn’t reach out
What kind of freedom is this?
Revolution! Revolution!

The PTM initially drew attention to the killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud, a Pashtun model and factory worker who was shot by Sindh police in Karachi. As the movement gathered force, their demands grew to include accountability for the killings, disappearances, torture and harassment routinely meted out to Pashtuns in Pakistan, and wider recognition of their rights under the country's constitution. The PTM did not shy away from pinpointing as perpetrators of these violations both Pakistan's military and security forces as well as Islamist militants active in Khyber Pakhtunkhwah, the Pashtun-majority province on the Afghanistan–Pakistan border. Over decades, the on-again, off-again relationship between these two groups had repeatedly devolved into brutal violence, with the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwah caught in the middle. Now, Pashtuns rose up peacefully against their treatment as pawns in this bloody game.

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pakistan
Pashtun Tahafuz Movement
Himal Southasian
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