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The Unholy Durand Line, Buffering the Buffer
Pakistan seems to be possessed with its insistence on what its interior minister Moinuddin Haider has called the need for sanctification of the
Durand Line. This column has dealt with the historical perspective of the
Durand Line in its earlier commentaries. (Refer to the commentary: Sanctity
of the Unholy in this column's archives.) The same minister had traveled a
few times into Afghanistan for talks with Taleban on the same issue. He has
been reported pressing hard for recognition of this "imaginary line" by
Taleban. Pakistani military government had even staged situations of
conflict in the border areas in order to drive its point home for recognition
of the border. Throughout, notwithstanding their relations with Pakistan,
Taleban have resisted the pressure. Moinuddin Haider returned home from
Afghanistan without any commitment from Taleban on the issue and as a matter
of fact on any issue of importance including his government's request from
Taleban not to destroy the historical statues of Buddha in Bamiyan.
No legislative body in Afghanistan ever ratified the Durand Line agreement,
signed by the British with the person of King Abdul Rahman Khan in 1893, and
therefore as far as its legality is concerned it remains as a defunct
historical document showing colonial designs in the third world countries.
The Line was devised by the British to strengthen the status of Afghanistan
as a buffer between the British India and the expanding Russian empire
desirous of reaching the warm waters of the Indian Ocean and for that matter
the rich colonial lands of the subcontinent of India. But when the British
left India in 1947 for good, it should have returned Afghan territory at
least including the area up to the natural border, the River Indus to
Afghanistan. Instead, still dreaming of keeping its colonial interests
alive in the subcontinent the British gave this territory to Pakistan, thus
creating a double buffer zone between the expansionist Soviet Union and the
Indian Ocean. This deprived Afghanistan of direct access to the sea. But
this was not the only objective, the British-authored project of Durand Line
wanted to achieve. It wanted to separate the Pashtoonland by an imaginary
line. It would divide not only the land, but would separate families,
fathers from sons and brothers from brothers.
However, last Friday, the Friday Times of Pakistan published a comprehensive
report on an important incident that challenges the very existence of the
notion of the Durand Line. It reported a visit by a high level group of 95
Taleban including their interior minister in a convoy of heavily armed
vehicles to Mohmand Agency. The report says the visit "has revived
Afghanistan's claim on the area and left Islamabad shocked." The report added
TFT has learnt that the delegation, which was accorded a warm welcome by
local chieftains and returned the same day whence it had come, visited a
number of places in the agency, most notably the Khapakh area, some 20
kilometers west of Ghalanai. It seems that the visit had prompted the local
assistant political agent Mutahar Zeb, to send urgent reports to the Home and
Tribal Affairs Department. But Pakistani authorities have downplayed the
significance of the visit stating that the group was there to offer
condolence to a bereaved family. Manzoor Ahmed, additional secretary in the
Department is reported to have said that the practice is normal since
Mohmands live on both sides of the Durand Line and share their grief and
happiness.
But this is exactly the point any political observer would make. If a tribe
is so cohesively entwined, how could any imaginary line divide it? But the
Friday Times report also deals with other aspects of the visit. It says:
"However, he (Ahmed) could not explain why it was important for the Taleban
interior minister to come to Mohmand Agency all the way from Kabul. According
to one malik (chieftain) of the Khoizai tribe, the Taliban expressed anger at
the Mohmand sub-tribes' urge to get Pakistani identity cards. "This is our
land. We will give you the (identity) cards," the malik quoted one Taliban
delegation member as saying at a tea party, attended among other chieftains
by Malik Fazal Manan, a former member of Pakistan's national assembly. During
one of the ceremonies, the delegation also hoisted the Taliban flag at
Khapakh." It is worth mentioning that the visit had scared the Pakistani
government so much so that it went ahead and arrested two tribal chieftains
namely Malik Abid and Malik Naseem for interrogation and released them after
72 hours. The report further states: "Kabul has refused to renew the Durand
Line treaty since 1993 when it expired, " says an Afghanistan expert. One of
the reasons Pakistan faced problems with the Kabul rulers right from its
inception was Kabul's claim over the North West frontier Province." Kabul
never accepted that line or the fact that the NWFP is part of Pakistan. This
was one of the main policy planks used by Sardar Daoud's government when it
tried to foment trouble by Pukhtoon nationalists in the NWFP on the issue of
greater Pukhtoonistan," says this expert."
The Durand Line treaty worked by the British was singed in 1893 and was to
stay in force for one hundred years. Even if the treaty were ratified by a
legal legislative body in Afghanistan its validity would have been expired in
1993 and there is no record of it ever having been revived. Pakistan
heavily invested in Taleban for many reasons one of which was what its
interior minister calls the sanctification of the Durand Line. However, it
should be stated that matters such acceptance or rejection of international
borders legally are the responsibility of legislative bodies within states
and no executive officer can take over this right. In this respect Taleban
are justified in having not taken any decision, as they are not legally
qualified to do so. This extremely important and vital issue should be dealt
with utmost care and true national representation. Even this imaginary line
remains unmarked from Khyber Agency up into Chitral. It has been so for that
past one hundred and four years. It will remain so for hundreds of years to
come.
This is a testimony to the fact that no artificial line, not even those
devised by colonial powers, can and should separate masses of humanity that
belong together. 08/11/01
The Unholy Durand Line, Buffering the Buffer
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