Fencing a Border that is not
Dr. G. Rauf Roashan
During the busy days in the political life of the Afghan nation, President Musharraf of Pakistan paid a visit to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly for the current year 2005. The occasion is a great opportunity for advancing of diplomatic pursuits of the countries. President Musharraf did not waste the chance to raise one of his concerns in a meeting with the United States Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. President Musharraf told Secretary Rice that he was proposing building of a fence along the Pakistani western borders with Afghanistan. Apparently, shocked with the strangeness of the proposition, the US Secretary only listened.
Later Pakistani government officials who repeated the proposal stated that the plan was meant to curtail intrusions from Pakistani side of Al-Qaeda or other extremists, as claimed by the US military and the Afghan government into Afghanistan.
Looking back in history there are precedences of building walls against invaders preventing their intrusions and attacks. Living examples of this are the Great Wall of China constructed against Mogul intrusions and attacks, the ancient Kabul city walls constructed on the ridges of the Asamaii and Shair Darwaza mountains during the reign of Kabul Shahan against Arab invasion and the Israeli concrete wall in Gaza against the Palestinian suicide bombers. The Berlin Wall, however, was built to prevent East Germans from escaping to freedom into West Berlin.
Pakistani proposal, however, does not fit any of the aforementioned settings and instead of aiding its claim that it is doing everything to prevent extremists from entering Afghanistan illegally, it weakens its argument exposing its inability to contain extremist moves inside its own territory.
Some analysts however read between the lines of the proposal. They are of the opinion that Pakistani governments ever since the creation of that country have been sensitive regarding its borders with Afghanistan. From 1947 to 1993, Pakistan was relying on an arbitrary borderline between the countries drawn by an officer of the British colonial power of the time in 1883 and purportedly was to be recognized for one hundred years. Pakistan prior to the 1993 tried several times to install governments friendly to her in Afghanistan through whom she would be able to extend the validity of the so-called Durand Line. First it tried to influence the Mujahidin government and failing to get their agreement it even resorted to create and support the Taleban movement. Even Taleban who were directly supported by the Pakistani government hesitated to comply with Pakistani wishes of extending the validity of the Durand Line. This column in a series of articles has dealt with many aspects of the Durand Line. (Please refer to the archives at www.institute-for-afghan-studies.org)
Afghan circles responded to the proposal with a great deal of surprise rejecting the idea vehemently on the grounds that building a fence in the border areas of the two countries based on the arbitrary line would amount to a recognition of the colonial line that divided families, villages, hamlets and peoples that belonged together as far back as their history can be traced. Afghan government too, rejected the idea. On the Pakistani side, the governor of the North West Frontier Province also rejected the proposal by the President of Pakistan, but called for a re-certification of the Durand Line. Most recent reports state that the Afghan President rejecting the idea has called on Pakistan to try and control extremist elements in its own territory. And Pakistani government, after many references to the proposal and the fact that they were awaiting an official response from the Afghan government, has stated that it has no problem with the Durand Line as it has been agreed upon since 1921.
1921 is two years into the reign of King Amanullah Khan of Afghanistan, who defeating the British in 1919 was able to extract recognition of Afghanistan’s full independence from the greatest colonial power of the time namely Great Britain. In 1921 Pakistan was not even born and the British ruled over the sub-continent of India.
Now that the idea of building a fence over a border that is not there has been rejected by Afghanistan and even a high ranking Pakistani official namely the governor of the NWFP, the question remains of what would be the next scheme of the Pakistani government for cutting through the Pashtun land and making the cut look legal? 9/24/05
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