As Balochistan witnessed protests across the province in the wake of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement, rallies were also held across the western border of Pakistan. But the protests in Afghanistan were not in support of Balochistan or condemning Modi: they were targeted against Pakistan. The Chaman crossing at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border has been indefinitely closed following the burning of Pakistani flags at the Friendship Gate at Chaman. Afghanis were celebrating their 97th Independence Day, and the rallies held in the Spin Boldak headed towards the border crossing to show apathy towards Pakistan. The crowd also tried to cross the border gate, which had already been closed in the anticipation of any such move. Placards in hands with anti-Pakistan slogans inscribed on them, the crowd pelted stones at the border check posts on the Pakistani side. Thankfully, the Frontier Corps exercised restraint, and any kind of bloodshed was avoided. But the event has resulted in the closure of the border for an indefinite period with trucks loaded with NATO supplies stuck on both sides of the border.
While the people in Pakistan are labelling the Afghans as the enemy and ungrateful, they should realise the sensitivity of the issue. Everything cannot be blamed on a foreign-backing of the issue. Since the inception of Pakistan, a border dispute has existed between Afghanistan and Pakistan with the former claiming a considerable portion of Pakistani land as theirs. Later, Pakistan’s involvement in the war against the Soviets in the 1980s that resulted in a chaos following the Soviets departure from Afghanistan also instigated feelings of hatred in the nation against Pakistan. Afghanistan fell victim to a civil war, which was followed by the Taliban rule and the consequent invasion of the US.
Although Pakistan has hosted Afghan refugees numbering in millions for decades, this act is not enough to persuade the minds of hundreds and thousands of people who were left homeless as a result of the war that was not theirs in the first place. Before forcing the Afghan refugees to leave the country by labelling them traitors and terrorists, Pakistan should see the issue retrospectively and make amends for its mistakes. The camaraderie of Afghans with Indians is not just cosmetic. India has been doing a great deal of systematic development work in Afghanistan, which includes building of roads, dams and other necessary infrastructure. Pakistan needs a similar approach to normalise its relations with Afghanistan, rather than blaming and forcing out refugees on mostly baseless accusations.
There is no denying the harm that Pakistan had to face following the war on terror, nor is it to wise to downplay the number of people who became victims of the menace of terrorism. There is a need to look beyond the exploitation of the collective grief of the people. And for this purpose, there is a need to analyse the excessive patriotism that has been exploited over the years to justify many actions. Before labelling anyone with anything, there is a need to look into the history to see where it all went wrong.
Afghanistan is a war-ravaged country, and there is no immediate sign of cessation of bloodshed there. The regular Afghans have never seen their country in a state of peace, and their mistrust and paranoia are justified, any given day. Be it the flawed, self-serving policies of their different governments, power-hunger of the brutal militias of Taliban, lust for power and money of myriad warlords, America’s disregard for its sovereignty, the inability of America and its allies to end the war, or Pakistan’s interventionist role, the primary victim has always been the regular Afghan. Afghanistan needs rehabilitation and restructuring of its system and infrastructure, not more conflict, barbarity for power, and an exploitation of its weaknesses to attain regional hegemony. http://dailytimes.com.pk/editorial/21-Aug-16/the-stark-reality-of-pak-afghan-relations
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