ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on Pashtun identity and politics, and tries to locate the contesting forces of war and peace in Southwest Asia where colonial narratives have often reverberated in several post-9/11 works. The Taliban might have appeared rustic, raw and even medieval to secular and liberal groups, yet for many Muslims in South Asia and elsewhere especially the younger unemployed clusters, they symbolised a new form of empowerment that could defy both the internal and external forces. The manner of the Taliban return to Helmand shows clear intent to retake the province. The emergence of largely Pashtun Taliban and their control of Kabul, followed by the conquest of northern regions, took everyone by surprise which might have even invited some eulogy but their altercation with the Hazara, Tajik and Uzbek leadership, represented by Abdul Karim Khalili, Ahmad Shah Masoud, Fahim Khan and Rashid Dostam, respectively, added to a pervading cynicism anchored on some Pashtun exclusivity.
