Putting Achakzai’s Statement in Context

Looking a little closer at the history

PK-MAP leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai statement that ‘Khyber Pakhtunkhaw belongs to Afghan has not only created much uproar in the socio-political circles within Pakistan but has also surprised diplomatic circles. His deceitful statement at the time when tension between Pakistan and Afghanistan are high and when India, Afghanistan Iran and USA have joined hands to sabotage the CPEC is a clear act of backstabbing the nation.  Although he gave this statement in the perspective of Pakistan’s intention to send the Afghan refugees back to their home country, but his remarks have wider connotations and needs to be comprehended accordingly.

The fact that he gave this statement to Voice of America and was carried by Afghanistan Times, speaks volumes about his intentions and does not rule out his connivance with other relevant stakeholders and regional players. It seems a deliberate attempt and calculated move to make the issue of Durand line alive which has otherwise become a dead issue. In an explanatory statement Achakzai himself and some commentators on the electronic media have tried to justify his remarks arguing that Achakzai was referring to the historical fact. But what is that historical fact has not been made clear. The issue of Durand line has been alive quite some sometime but since the last few decades it has become an irrelevant and dead issue. Afghanistan claims that not only Khyber Pakhtunkhaw, but also Baluchistan and the area of Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral on the right side of river Indus has been its territory and that they did not accept the Durand line as international border which was agreed between British India and Afghanistan more than a century ago.

The fact of the matter is that Afghanistan border has never been stable it kept on changing throughout the history. The modern day Afghanistan is part of the country that was established by Ahmad Shah Durrani, popularly known as Ahmad Shah Abdali (1747-1773) with its capital in Kandahar. Many people may not know that after his death Ahmad shah Abdali was buried in Multan. Historically, all the invaders from Central Asia who established their rules in India used Afghanistan-Torkham route to invade India or its northern territories. Ahmad Shah Abdali was the last ruler who conquered Punjab in 1748.

But subsequently this process was reversed. Firstly Sikhs invaded Afghanistan in 1813, and later the British fought three wars with the Afghans in1838, 1878, and 1919. Afghans lost Peshawar and the area north to Peshawar to Sikh regime in 1834. Although later they defeated Sikhs in another scuffle, but failed to retake Peshawar. After arrival of British in northern India, Afghanistan became a battleground between Russia and the Britain. Russia has started annexing Central Asian states one after the other. Apprehending further Russian expansion towards south, Britain pursued the policy of offensive defense. In its bid to curtail Russia, Britain fought three wars in Afghanistan.

First war between the British and the Afghans was in 1838-42. Amir Dost Muhammad resisted to some extent but later surrendered to the British and was deported to India. Soon after, Akbar Khan fought with ferocity and was able to destroy almost all the British army. Contrary to what is generally claimed, this was the only major victory that Afghan can claim. Second war between Afghans and the British was in 1879 in which British forces were able to occupy Kabul. To settle the issue of border between Afghanistan and British India, British government in 1993 dispatched Sir Mortimer Durand to Kabul who signed an agreement with Abdur Raḥmān Khān, Amir of Afghanistan. They reached to an agreement to demark a boundary line, a 2460 km long Durand Line separating the borders between two countries and  stretching from Chaghi District in Baluchistan to Chitral. Prior to this agreement there was no clear demarcation the two countries. In this agreement, Afghanistan agreed to surrender some areas to British India and gain others, like Nuristan and Asmar, which were never controlled by Afghanistan.

In principle, this agreement would have settled the border issue for time to come. In fact it decided the border dispute at least for rest of the time of British India. But, soon after independence of Pakistan, Afghan parliament in 1949 denounced the Durand Treaty and refused to recognise the Durand Line as a legal boundary between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Afghan claims that the treaty was signed just for 100 years which came to cease into existence in 1993 after the lapse of agreement period. However, Afghan claim is contrary to the historical facts. Contrary to the Afghan claim, there is no proof that the agreement for specific period. In 1905, Amir Habibullah Khan signed a new agreement with the British government confirming the legality of the Durand Line. Lastly, a new treaty was signed between British India and Afghanistan in 1919 under which Afghanistan reclaimed its independence. Article 5 of this treaty confirms acceptance of all previous treaties by the Afghan government including all previously agreed border arrangements with India. There are evidences that this agreement was not imposed upon Afghanistan, rather Afghanistan signed this treaty as an independent state.

The border dispute was basically orchestrated by Pashtun leaders who were opposed to the creation of Pakistan. When Muslim League demanded for the independence of Pakistan, the West wing of which was to be comprised of Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan and the then NWFP, some Pashtun leaders under the influence of Indian National Congress, opposed to the idea of carving out a new country from India and that too in the name of Islam. Late Khan Abdul Gaffer Khan, father of late Wail khan and grandfather of Asfandyar Khan, who preferred to be called as Sarhadi Gandhi and who preferred to buried in Kabul instead of Char Sada, demanded a referendum in NWFP to ascertain whether people of that province wanted to join Pakistan or remain part of India. Being infuriated by his defeat in the referendum, he connived with the Pashtun leader on other side of the boarder and persuaded Afghanistan not recognise Pakistan. Readers need to note that Afghanistan was the only country that opposed Pakistan’s admission to the UN in 1947. It was in persuasion of the same policy that 1948 Afghan Parliament denounced Durand line as an internationally recognised border.

Our print and electronic media failed to educate the people on the issue and was unable highlight what international community thinks about the Durand Line. Former US special assistance on Pakistan and Afghanistan Marc Grossman, during his visit to the region on October 21^st reiterated that Durand line must be regonised as international border by Afghans. His statement was reconfirmed by State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland during an October 23 press briefing.

It is not surprising then that at this juncture of time, the claim that KPK belongs to Afghans did not come from any Afghan but a person who is a member Pakistan Parliament and has taken oath that he would be remain loyal to the state of Pakistan. Can we expect that he was ignorant of the implications and consequences of his statement to the defense and integrity of Pakistan, as Afghanistan not only has claim on KPK but the entire area stretching from Baluchistan to Chitral, equivalent to more than 50 percent of Pakistan territory? If anybody has doubt about his intension, he/she needs to recall his remarks when he said “Pakistan and Afghanistan should sit and talk about the Torkham border issue; otherwise, they should leave the matter to China and the United States, who would resolve it within two weeks’.

The writer is a former professor and Dean Faculty of Education

University of the Punjab, currently working as Professor University of Dammam, Saudi Arabia