A Martyr of Truth – Maulana Khanzeb and the Price of Peace in Bajaur

On July 10th, 2025, in Bajaur, Maulana Khanzeb, a rare voice of peace, equality, and secularism, was assassinated. Shot dead by the state-backed death squads that have long hunted progressive Pashtun voices, his murder was not just a killing. It was a message.

Maulana Khanzeb was not your typical religious leader. He was a man of deep faith who had embraced Bacha Khan’s philosophy of nonviolence, democracy, and justice—a philosophy rooted in Bacha Khani, which teaches resistance through peace, not war; love, not hate. In a society torn by decades of war and religious manipulation, Khanzeb’s life itself was rebellion.

He stood with the Awami National Party (ANP), a secular democratic party known for its resistance to both religious extremism and state authoritarianism. As a candidate, he openly called for human rights, women's rights, and democracy. And for that, the state silenced him.

Let us be clear: Maulana Khanzeb was killed because he rejected the state’s proxy wars and the militant networks it has long nurtured in tribal regions. He was killed because he chose peace over politics, truth over fear. His assassination is part of a pattern—the same pattern that took the lives of thousands of Pashtun activists, journalists, teachers, and thinkers who refused to bow.

And yet, the media remained silent. No outrage. No debates. No state condemnation. The same state that lectures us on peace and democracy sends death squads to eliminate those who actually practice it. The same media that thrives on sensationalism looked away because this was not a “newsworthy death.” It was a Pashtun life lost in a forgotten war. But we will not forget.

Maulana Khanzeb was a rare breed. A Pashtun cleric who believed in equality over patriarchy, peace over violence, secularism alongside faith. He believed the Quran could go hand in hand with human dignity. He was a bridge between religion and resistance, between tradition and progress. They killed his body, but they cannot kill his vision. And as long as we write, speak, resist—they will never bury the truth.

The white of flag of peace turned red by the blood of a man who carried no weapons but words! The flag says “we want peace”. They killed peace!