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As depictions of Pashtuns in Western and Pakistani popular culture focused on extremism and violence, Pashtuns – who form roughly 20 percent of Pakistan’s 207 million people – came to be associated with the violence, rather than as victims of the Taliban’s rise.
“A good image was not portrayed of [Pashtun] music instruments,” said Bogra, speaking to Al Jazeera about the class taboo around performing music in Pashtun culture. “People didn’t let their children play the rubab. Even I faced a lot of resistance from my family.”
As the military drove the TTP from its strongholds in the northwest from 2014 onwards, violence has receded dramatically in the last three years. But rights groups such as the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) say widespread discrimination against Pashtuns, particularly by Pakistani security forces, continues unabated.