Daily Times

Pashtuns first appeared strong after the fall of Mughals. It was the time of Durranis when the Afghan empire was stretched from Mashad to Oxus River and to Indus in the southeast. By the 1820s, Afghan empire was reduced to Kandhar, Ghazni, Kabul and Peshawar. That was the time when Sikhs occupied rest of the territories in the region. At that time, the British wanted to have some land between them and the Russians that would work as a buffer between the two great powers. By the 1880s, the Russians had advanced into Central Asia and occupied cities like Bokhara, Samarkand and Khiva and were pressing Pamirs, Oxus and Afghanistan. It was at this juncture that the British decided to formalise borders between Afghanistan and the British India. It was October 1893 when Mortimer Durand, the-then Indian foreign secretary, travelled to Kabul to decide borders. During the initial discussions, it was agreed between Durand and Amir Abdul Rehman that Dir, Swat, Peshawar and Chitral should be given to the British India and in return Afghanistan was given Asmar to provide it with the access to Nuristan and other regions. The agreement was signed in 1893 between British India and Afghanistan. The border was demarcated between 1893 and 1896, and Wakhan was also created as British wanted to keep safe distance with the Russians.

In 1904, Lord Curzon created NWFP province and the tribal areas. Durand Line, the legitimate international border between Pakistan and Afghanistan and the treaty of 1893 were reconfirmed in the later treaties of 1905, 1919, 1921 and 1930. In 1949, the British House of Commons reconfirmed Durand Line as the legal border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. In 1950, Queen of United Kingdom (UK) also recognised this border as legal. The first Afghan ambassador to Pakistan officially announced that “I declare that Afghanistan has no claims on frontier territory and even if there were any, they have been given up in favour of Pakistan”.

One major misconception about the treaty is that it was signed for hundred years only. If this was true, then the agreement ended in 1993. However, the agreement was reconfirmed by the successive governments. The agreement of 1919 reconfirms that the Afghan government accepted the Indo-Afghan frontiers accepted by the late Amir. The Kabul agreement of 1921 again recognised Durand Line as international border of Afghanistan.

And now, suddenly, one man Manzoor Pashteen appears from nowhere to challenge the writ of the state in the garb of Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM). It appears to be a planned and organised movement, not a spontaneous one. This seems to be a subversive attempt by hostile agencies to incite patriotic Pashtuns against Pakistan

Another misconception is that Durand Line was imposed on the Afghans forcefully and signed under duress. Contrary to this, upon the conclusion of the treaty, Amir Abdul Rehman called a gathering of elders and government officials where he described the agreement as a landmark achievement. And even if the first one was signed under duress, what about the other four agreements signed later?

The international community recognises Durand Line as the international border between the two sovereign states. Ironically, Afghanistan’s borders with Russia, China and Iran were demarcated through a dialogue in which Afghanistan was not even allowed to take part. If Afghanistan takes these borders to be legitimate, then why not the Durand Line? All Arabs speak same language, share the same culture and same origin but are divided into 22 independent states. If states start opposing the borders on the basis of ethnicity, entire world map will have to be changed and the international order will collapse.

Despite Pakistan’s sincerity, Afghan government never misses out on an opportunity to oppose/damage Pakistan. The so-called idea of Pakhtunistan was also coined by Afghanistan to create unrest in Pakistan. In 1948, Afghanistan opposed Pakistan’s membership to UN and today they hold Pakistan responsible for their miseries. There are more Pashtuns in Pakistan than there are in Afghanistan. Why not to have a referendum in Afghanistan for Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras and Turkmen? It is high time that Afghanistan accepts the ground realities. Pashtuns in Pakistan are playing a significant role in all walks of life, serving in military, bureaucracy, business and other fields. At the time of Partition, 95 percent Pashtuns had voted to join Pakistan in a referendum held from 6 to 17 July, 1947. The referendum gave two choices to the voters, either to join the existing constituent assembly or to join the new constituent assembly in Pakistan, though Abdul Ghaffar Khan tried to have a third choice to vote for an independent Pakhtunistan, which was never granted.

It was the tribal laskhar alongwith other forces that liberated the present-day Azad Kashmir. At one point, they were even knocking at the doors of Srinagar but ran short of logistics and ammunition while facing Indian army. All the credit goes to those brave Pashtuns who left their homes to liberate Kashmir.

And now, suddenly, one man Manzoor Pashteen appears from nowhere to challenge the writ of the state in the garb of Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM). It appears to be a planned and organised movement, not a spontaneous one. This seems to be a subversive attempt by hostile agencies to incite patriotic Pashtuns against Pakistan. Some of their demands are genuine and they must be addressed within the framework of the constitution of Pakistan. But their gatherings are no doubt engineered to damage the peace and stability in Pakistan. Anti-state slogans being chanted in PTM gatherings are being exploited by foreign agencies and media channels, unhappy with the return of peace and stability in the FATA region.

Some of their demands have already been addressed, like that of the arrest of Rao Anwar, removal of landmines from FATA and tracing of the missing persons. Pakistan army too is already taking steps to address some of the issues raised. Military check-posts are gradually being abolished and charge is being handed over to civil administration. In addition, there are 42 de-mining teams deployed in FATA to defuse mines and IEDs placed by the militants.

PTM never raised such a movement when terrorists were beheading and lashing innocent people. Undoubtedly, the Pashtuns have scarified more than any other ethnic group in the war on terror in Pakistan. If anyone deserves appreciation for their contribution right from 1947, it is the Pashtun people.

The writer is a retired brigadier and currently commissioner of the Afghan Refugees Organisation, Balochistan

Published in Daily Times, May 22^nd 2018.