Orphaned by Truth: Remembering Shaheed Usman Kakar

Today marks the 4th death anniversary of Shaheed Usman Khan Kakar — a man whose life was the embodiment of resistance, truth, and unshakable commitment to the oppressed, especially the Pashtun nation.

He wasn’t just a politician; he was a fearless defender of our rights, a bold critic of state injustices, and a towering figure who spoke truth to power when silence was the safer option.

Usman Kakar dedicated his life to raising the voice of the voiceless — from the forcibly disappeared to those killed in staged encounters; from the mothers waiting for justice to the youth whose futures were stolen by war and militarization. Whether in the Senate of Pakistan or the streets of Quetta, he never wavered. He spoke of missing persons when no one dared. He demanded justice for the people of FATA, Waziristan, Balochistan, and every corner where state brutality tried to silence us.

He exposed the policies that pushed the Pashtuns to the margins, resisted the imposed wars on our lands, and demanded that the people of this land be treated as human beings, not collateral.

And for that truth — they murdered him.

Usman Kakar didn’t die a natural death. He was martyred in cold blood. A brutal assassination disguised as an “accident.” Yet not a single person has been held accountable, because when the state itself is accused, who investigates?

This silence isn’t just complicity — it’s a confession.

Today, Pashtuns stand orphaned.

We lost not just a leader, but a protector. One of the few who never sold his conscience, who never sugar-coated genocide, and who made it clear: "The land is ours. The resources are ours. The voice is ours. And no one can take that from us."

Shaheed Usman Kakar’s legacy lives on in every protest chant, every grieving mother, every young Pashtun who chooses resistance over silence.

Let this day be a reminder:

We will not forget.

We will not forgive.

And we will never stop the struggle he gave his life for.