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Paying homage to the heroics and prowess of Pakhtuns

Paying homage to the heroics and prowess of Pakhtuns

#FakhrePakhtoon was a refreshing break from the myopic depiction of Pakhtuns in both national and international media.

Salman Ahmad July 15, 2015

On July 10, 2015, some of the most illustrious and high achieving Pakhtuns were given a grand tribute by Twitteratis. People on twitter, like minstrels, were praising the heroics and prowess of Pakhtuns as they trended the hashtag #FakhrePakhtoon.

It was heartening to see the amalgamation of tradition, bravado, and literature meeting technology, peace and education. Young technology and education activists received as much praise similar to the likes of Bacha Khan, Khushal Khan Khattak, Ghani Khan and Rehman Baba.

It turned out to be a refreshing break from the myopic depiction of Pakhtuns in both national and international media. Young Pakhtuns posted updates showing that Pakhtuns are not just about guns and violence but love, peace, poetry, technology, innovation and art as well.

Here are some highlights from #FakhrePakhtoon:

Abdul Haq & Hukam Khan, 2 cop of #KP BDU who defused over 2000 bombs before sacrificing life. RIP. #FakhrEPakhtoon pic.twitter.com/dYQ5cWgw0L
— Javed Aziz Khan (@JavedAzizKhan) July 10, 2015

Aitzaz Hassan Shaheed. The young student who saved his schoolmates lives by sacrificing his own.#FakhrEPakhtoon pic.twitter.com/7KZWHa04aQ
— KHURRAM (@MahmoodK69) July 10, 2015

https://twitter.com/ZalmayX/status/619638310563094528

Every Tribal from FATA who is suffering from the black law of jungle of FCR, But still ultimate patriot is #FakhrEPakhtoon #GoFCRGo
— Survivor (@Wasim_wazir) July 10, 2015

Bacha Khan - A man to match his mountains #FakhrEPakhtoon pic.twitter.com/lh4FPf40CK
— Sangeen Khan (@SangeenKhan) July 10, 2015

#FakhrePakhtoon Abdul Ahad Momand.Astronaut&visited outer space.With him Pashto become 4th language spoken in space. pic.twitter.com/cbe0CBV1C2
— pukhtunkhwa (@PukhtunkhwaPics) July 10, 2015

Martyrs of APS Peshawar are real #FakhrEPakhtoon pic.twitter.com/hQcItWraEB
— Shafeeq Gigyani (@ShafeeqGigyani) July 10, 2015

Tahira Qazi Shaheed. The principal who sacrificed her life for her students. #FakhrEPakhtoon pic.twitter.com/IqBnJolJhB
— Khushal Khan (@Khushal_Khattak) July 10, 2015

#FakhrePakhtoon Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan #Legends pic.twitter.com/JmVmSGpudi
— pukhtunkhwa (@PukhtunkhwaPics) July 10, 2015

Pir Rokhan, My Ideal Personality.
The Founder of Education in Pashtun Nation.#FakhrEPakhtoon pic.twitter.com/5oI5akYr0K
— Shafeeq Gigyani (@ShafeeqGigyani) July 10, 2015

Maria Umar, founder & president of Womens Digital League. @MariaUmar #FakhrePakhtoon pic.twitter.com/cU1ca0f2Ln
— Muhammad Uzair (@Uzairktk) July 11, 2015

Dr. Faisal of Peshawar 2.0 who wants #Peshawar A City of Technology, Art and innovation.#FakhrePakhtoon pic.twitter.com/Hd9JKpbHdn
— Shafeeq Gigyani (@ShafeeqGigyani) July 10, 2015

https://twitter.com/AbidAtozai/status/619582971096338432

https://twitter.com/RaufAbdur/status/619636415098257408

https://twitter.com/Afridi93/status/619497513444192257

#FakhrEPakhtoon Younis khan the great pic.twitter.com/vw2QzxBeBB
— Humayun Khan (@Humauu) July 11, 2015

@NazranaYusufzai @Malala @BushraGohar @Gulalai_Ismail #FakhrEPakhtoon The Great Pakhtun females who make us proude. pic.twitter.com/LBtIdIsNvY
— Ibadullah Khan USFZI (@Chagharzee) July 11, 2015

And lastly, every Pakhtun who has achieved something for Pakistan:

Every Pakhtoon, Who has achieved something for Pakistan is #FakhrEPakhtoon pic.twitter.com/b81RyIlO4C
— Survivor (@Wasim_wazir) July 10, 2015

WRITTEN BY:
Salman Ahmad He is the co-founder and campus lead at Peshawar 2.0. He tweets as @SalmanAhmad (https://twitter.com/salmanahmad)

The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (17)

Sajjad | 8 years ago | Reply From the pictures I would say many Pakhtuns have mixed genes. They have lived under the Mongol sword and it shows.

19640909rk . | 8 years ago | Reply Imran Khan is a fake Pakthoon. He is a Punjabi.

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Pakistani | 8 years ago | Reply why so much criticism, all are Pakistanis and we proud of them :)

Zalmai | 8 years ago | Reply Abdul Ahad Mohmand is an Afghan Pashtun and Imran Khan is not a Pashtun. I met Imran Khan and spoke Pashto with him but he was not able to speak Pashto and spoke English instead.

Haqeeqat | 8 years ago | Reply Yes, this surprizes me too because Bacha Khan and Imran Khan are two different personalities. While Bacha opposed creation of Pakistan and wished to be burried in Afghanistan and was known as Sarhadi Gandhi, Imran Khan is true Pakistani , honest with integrity and self esteem. He loves our land and has contributed a lot for our people in every field. Unlike many others who just made themselves and kith and kin rich. Nawaz and Zardari are the two who come to mind straight away.

hamza khan | 8 years ago | Reply AQ khan is not a pathan..having a khan attached to your name does NOT make you pakhtun. his family is urdu speaking through and through. pakhtuns also have some pretty bad characters. having some pashtun blood in me i know theres good and bad ppl everywhere.

pesmanzar | 8 years ago | Reply (Why are you Pashtuns so emotional about everything? Celebrate your whatever culture all you want but don't mislead the public by including non Pashtuns as 'Fakhre Pakhtoon'. The boy with the phone is not a Pashtun, he is a Punjabi/Hindko speaking Awan. His name is Muhammed Yassen and there are many Punjabi/Hindko speakers like him in the school from perachas to siddiques to others. The women principle is of a syed qazi/kazi clan many of which are also found in Punjab similar to the Quraishi and siddique clans. Qazi Hussain ahmed spoke hindko/Punjabi and was too of syed background. AQ khan himself claims to be of Pashtun stock but identifies more or less with muhajirs. Jahangir khan claims full Pashtun ancestry yet many Pashtuns refer to him as a 'Punjabi' in a derogatory way because of his skin. Some of whom cant bear to acknowledge there are very very dark Pashtuns in their midst. full Pashtun or half Pashtun is not really a concern of mine but don't include people who are not of Pashtun background and tag them or label them as such!! nearly half of those who died in the APS massacre were of non Pashtun background including from all over the country you can look up their names & places. . including non Pashtuns in your Pashtun personality manifesto will not gain you any extra sympathies but only more scrutiny. Finally none of the attackers of APS was a Punjabi.

guestposter1 | 8 years ago | Reply Please get the facts straight. Imran Khan is not a pakhtun. Just having a clear skin with a khan surname doesnt make one pakhtun. He is punjabi. And this is his prime fraud tactic. He never clarifies he is not pakhtun hence wants to capitalize on pakhtun vote bank as well. What a fraudster.

Suhaib Aamir | 8 years ago | Reply The very same question struck me as well, although I consider him as my leader. The biggest problem with Pashtuns is that they associate all the legends to their soil. Once I heard someone that Amitab Bachan is also a Pashtun, lol. In 1990s, Sunil Shetty and Akshay Kumar were linked to this soil as well. So take a chill pill, in Pakistan we have such small gossips to keep the lot entertained ;)

Lakhkar Khan | 8 years ago What do you mean by the biggest problem with Pukhtun? This may shock you but the article is about “Paying homage to the heroics and prowess of Pakhtuns”. You still did not answer what makes him Pukhtun? First, he is not one. Second, if he is what has he done to be on the same list as real legends. In regards your comment regarding some Indian actors, I never heard anyone claimed Amitab Bachan, Sunil Shetty and Akshay Kumar were Pukhtun. Maybe you can provide any proof of that. They maybe were linked to this soil which does not make them Pukhtun.

Faiz | 8 years ago | Reply Good for Pashtuns.Good for Pakistan.I think we should pay homage to all ethnic groups, Sindhis,Punjabis,Kashmiris,Baloch,Gilgitis & Urdu-speakers etc but most of all we should just pay homage to people for being human, excessive ethnocentrism and excessive religion is just divisive

ather khan | 8 years ago every year certain days should be fixed by govt to highlight each particular cultural group like sindhi day. in that day govt and private media should highlight the positive achievements of the cultural group. their culture should be celebrated across the pakistan to bring all groups understand each other more. it will surely make a great impact for the unity of pakistan.

Historian | 8 years ago | Reply He is from the Niazi tribe of Mianwali from his father side, the Niazis invaded Punjab under Haibat Khan Niazi and they never assimilated or mixed, they just adopted Seraiki in the last century. His mother is from Burki Pashtun tribe that settled in Jalandhar, so he is indeed Pashtun by blood, much more Pashtun than any hamsaya that just speaks Pashto. As for his achievements, we don't have to ask what he did on the cricket field as one of the greatest all rounders and captains in history, or what he did as a philanthropist and a revolutionary politician, I can't really think of what Ghaffar Khan did apart from politics and being called the Frontier Gandhi BTW AQ Khan is not Pashtun, he's a Mohajir with distant Pashtun ancestry, his community is widespread in Karachi, so it doesn't make Pashtun; the actual Pashtuns and the Mohajir-Pathans are at loggerheads in Karachi..

Lakhkar Khan | 8 years ago You wrote: “I can't really think of what Ghaffar Khan did apart from politics and being called the Frontier Gandhi.” Seriously? First of all, he was not a politician. Unlike your fake and fraud Khan, Bacha Khan was a devoted Muslim, a real patriot and a true "Khan". He was a freedom fighter, a civil rights advocate and a humanitarian. He spent 33 years of his life in different jails, including protesting British raj, for what he believed. You discredit Bacha Khan and glorify this Khan wants to be? It reflects on your personality, not his. I heard his claim that his mother is from North Waziristan but that is just a claim. As far we know, his mother came from India and nothing is wrong with that but he is NOT Pukhtun. His last name was Niazi before. Changing name to Khan does not make you what someone wants to be. This individual has an illegitimate child, Tyrian Khan, with a woman and he is not even man enough to accept her as his daughter. A man like him with NO morals is your hero? That says a lot about you. You appear one of Imran "Khans” brainless zombies. After all, PTI is the part of empty slogans. You talk big and deliver nothing. You can follow him to the gates of hell see if we care, just don’t drag the rest of us with you.

Lakhkar Khan | 8 years ago | Reply A fundamental question is, why is Imran "Khan's" picture posted among Pukhtun heroes? Can someone explain what he has done even close to what Bacha Khan, AQ Khan, Aitezaz Bangash or Mrs. Qazi did? He supported Taliban terrorists and was chased away by the families of APS victims. It is an insult to the shaheeds of APS to post this individual's image amongst them. His mother is Saraiki and father is Punjabi both from Punjab, India What makes him Pukhtun?

Sami | 8 years ago | Reply In my view achievements could be stated without too much emphasis on the ethnicity. Unfortunately some tweets got racist undertones. Also I have read some tweets and interestingly some misinformation was there as well. For example Dilip Kumar is not a Pukhtoon. Every person with a last name as Khan is not a Pukhtoon. He belongs from Awan family and they are mostly Punjabis and Hindkos. Similarly Pushtoons do not include anyone from the Urdu speaking background in their ranks. Many people in Karachi claim to have that ancestry but they are out-rightly rejected. But when it comes to Achievements then Urdu speakers can be added in the Pukhtoon list?. For example AQ Khan was added there whereas Babar Khan Ghauri who claims to be a Pukhtoon will never be considered as one.

sterry | 8 years ago Come on ! If AQ Khan and Babar Ghauri are Pashtuns, then we have some real confusion in Pakistan. A lot of people forget that many people in India were converted by outsiders and my guess would be that the ancestors of both of these men were likely converted to Islam from Hinduism by invaders of the Ghauri tribe or another tribe since both Babar Ghauri and AQ Khan men look more Indian than Pashtun; after all their families migrated from India too.

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