Oh You Pashtun Women Poem by Sadiqullah Khan

Grown among the rocks and melting snow your wild flowers yearn to give fragrance.
Untamed and fresh, you dream of settings in colorful bouquets.
You do not love your wildness; seldom care for your unclipped prettiness,
You look outside on the other side and grow reddish.
The hot house flowers of the West envy your wild beauty.

Malala Yousafzai, Allah loves your beautiful fragrance.
Malalai of Maiwand, you rise once more
And if the men don’t go forward,
Women East and West will stop carrying men’s shame
And fill the Swat valley with your fragrance.

Malalai Joya, Allah has picked your flower.
Untamed and fresh you dream of colorful bouquets.
The untamed women love you in your unclipped prettiness.
So America denied your Visa to visit their hot house flowers.
Oh you Pashtun women, fill the world with your fragrance.

Teacher Noorzia Khan,16, writes letters from the Kalasha alphabet on a blackboard during a lesson at the Kalasha Dur school and community centre in Brun village, located in Bumboret Kalash valley.

Nestled among the valleys of Pakistan's mountainous northwest, the Kalash are a tiny religious community that claim descent from Alexander the Great's army, and say they are under increasing pressure to convert to Islam.

The Kalash, who number about 3,500 in Pakistan's population of 180 million, are spread over three valleys along the border with Afghanistan and are known for their distinctive dress, vibrant religious festivals, and polytheism. @ rediffNews