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Pakistani Pashtun Leader: Nationalism Is a ‘Reaction Against the Racist Policies of the State’

Manzoor Pashteen is a rising political star willing to speak out on taboo subjects.

ODonnell-Lynne-foreign-policy-columnist
ODonnell-Lynne-foreign-policy-columnist
Lynne O’Donnell
By , a columnist at Foreign Policy and an Australian journalist and author.
Manzoor Pashteen, the Pakistani tribal leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement, takes part in an interview with Agence France-Presse in Islamabad on April 6, 2018.
Manzoor Pashteen, the Pakistani tribal leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement, takes part in an interview with Agence France-Presse in Islamabad on April 6, 2018.
Manzoor Pashteen, the Pakistani tribal leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement, takes part in an interview with Agence France-Presse in Islamabad on April 6, 2018. AAMIR QURESHI/AFP via Getty Images

ISLAMABAD—Manzoor Pashteen has become one of the most popular figures in Pakistani politics that few outside the country have ever heard of. Yet enormous crowds attend rallies to hear him speak, and the traditional red-and-black Mazari hat he wears has become known as the “Pashteen hat.” People wear it to show their support for him.

Lynne O’Donnell is a columnist at Foreign Policy and an Australian journalist and author. She was the Afghanistan bureau chief for Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press between 2009 and 2017.

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