In Pakistan, Oppressed Pashtuns Found A New Voice

Since the murder of 27-year-old Naqeebullah Mehsud from Waziristan, Pakistan's Pashtun people have been uprising. Along with three other men, Mehsud was killed by police forces in Karachi last January. Firstly, the police described them as "terrorists". Over the last weeks, the face of Mehsud, who was an aspiring model, has been present all over social media.

However, now a new face has appeared.

Manzoor Ahmed Pashteen, 26, wears a red-and-black patterned hat and has become the new face of Pashtun resistance in Pakistan. 

About 15 percent of Pakistan's 207 million population is Pashtun, according to the country's 1998 census. Pashteen's hat is now worn by those who support the young man's cause, the fight for the rights and protection of Pakistan's ethnic Pashtun citizens. 

According to Noor Rehman Mehsud, a member of the new movement and one of Naqeebullah Mehsud's cousins, all Pashteen wants to do "is fight for the right of Pashtuns".

Nevertheless, Pashteen's fight is a dangerous one.

Too often, those who started to resist against Pakistan's "establishment", consisting of the army, the government and the intelligence service, have been murdered brutally.

"When I started the movement, I used to go from house to house and tell people what was going on in our area in terms of injustice and atrocities. But most of the time, I would get a reply from them: 'Pashteen, you will get killed. Don't do this", Pashteen himself said.