Fencing
Across The Border
Whose Fooling Who
By Abid Mustafa
13 January, 2007
Countercurrents.org
To
assuage international concerns over cross border filtration into Afghanistan,
the Pakistani government has announced a series of measures. These include
selectively fencing the 2,430km border, laying down mines and introducing
biometric identity checks on the Pakistani side of the border. This
is in addition to the 80,000 Pakistani troops manning the border. If
this was not enough- Pakistan has also proposed to convene a tribal
Jirga in an attempt to stymie the flow of militants into Afghanistan.
In the near future, Pakistan also plans to repatriate 2 million or so
Afghan refugees back to Afghanistan.
Rather than welcoming such
measures the government in Kabul has fervently reprimanded Islamabad
and continues to blame Pakistan for providing sanctuary to Taliban and
other Pushtoon fighters. Meanwhile, the US is staying clear of taking
sides in the dispute and maintains that the matter must be resolved
bilaterally between the two countries." I'm not going to get into
disputes between states, both of whom are allies...It is clear that
the issue of border crossings is one of shared interest and concern,"
said White House Press Secretary Tony Snow. The only clarity the Bush
administration has offered is that it concurs with media reports that
Taliban fighters are using Pakistan to re-organise and launch attacks
against coalition troops operating in Afghanistan. So what is going
on?
It is obvious that the measures
spelt out by Pakistan will only succeed if Musharraf is prepared to
stem the tide of Pushtoon fighters crossing into Afghanistan. Partial
fencing of the border will not stop those determined to get across.
Neither will mining, as sign posts and maps can be used to navigate
around such hot spots. Moreover, mines are likely to maim and kill civilians
than deter militants. Biometric checks are only good as the intelligence
on the ground. Besides, it will take months to implement these measures
effectively-by then the present government in Kabul may not be around.
Hence the stigma of Pakistan
abetting Taliban fighters will remain unless Islamabad chooses to terminate
their activities. But Pakistan's unwillingness to withdraw support to
the Taliban and other Pushtoon fighters is being fuelled by the US which
continues to support Pakistan's policy of embracing Taliban militants.
Despite the growing international pressure, especially from NATO members,
the Whitehouse has hitherto refused to apportion blame at Musharraf's
government for incubating militants on its soil.
It is also apparent that
the US is quietly supporting Pakistan's efforts to make the border between
Pakistan and Afghanistan permanent and this explains much of the hostility
of the Kabul government towards the measures. The Afghans still dispute
the Durand Line which was invented by the British in 1893 to divide
Afghanistan from British India. Afghans consider the agreement illegal
and regard Peshawar and Quetta part of Afghanistan.
America's current plan is
to buy precious time for the Taliban to take leadership over the Pushtoon
resistance and then execute a major offensive against Kabul in the Spring
of this year. Thereafter, the US will convene an international conference
to construct a new government in Kabul-one that enjoys the support of
the Pushtoons; resolve the border issue between Afghanistan and Pakistan,
and integrate the tribal belt into the civil polity of Pakistan. Aspects
of this plan have been put forward by Martin Inderfurth a former Assistant
Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs and Dennis Kux a former US
ambassador to Pakistan. On 5/12/06 in an article published in the Baltimore
Sun, the two advocate that Afghanistan should override the Jirga decision
of 1948 and accept the Durand Line as the defacto border, and that Pakistan
should undertake reforms with the assistance of the World Bank to integrate
the tribal region.
But if somehow the Pakistan's
establishment believes that America is going to safeguard Pakistan's
integrity then they are gravely mistaken. American policy makers have
already discussed several plans which elaborate on how Pakistan should
be divided along sectarian lines. One plan proposes to reduce Pakistan
to Punjab and Sindh and its security and economy integrated with India.
Musharraf often talks about sectarian violence and blames Islamists
or outside powers for fomenting it. Yet it is his pro-American policies
that are laying the seeds of an even bigger sectarian disaster- the
dismemberment of Pakistan.
Abid Mustafa is a political commentator who specialises in Muslim affairs
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