Political Stability As A Major Concern in Pashtun Women's Poetry

Abstract

Much of human emotions are expressed via poetry and other literary genres, but when it comes to women in Pashtun society, we lose their voices. Afzal Raza believes Pashtun women cannot speak about their pain, misery, or other feelings (Raza). As women could be persecuted for writing poetry in Pashtun society, much of the folklore poetry was anonymized by female speakers. Recently, the New York Times reported about several young girls set themselves on fire after they were caught reciting poetry to an FM radio from home (Griswold). Reading about women casualties in their poetry, Raza shall be accurate in saying that Tapa or Landay (two-verse poetry) is the ancient form of poems created mainly by women that still exists as its writer is unknown but has its female speaker for us to understand it. To study Pashtun women and their poetry, Tapa or Landay is the primary source to begin (Raza).