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"This is a calculated conspiracy aimed at dividing over 30 million Pashtuns across the border," said Senator Wali. |
PESHAWAR — Pakistan's religious and nationalist parties vehemently oppose the government's plan to mine and fence parts of the borders with Afghanistan on the ground it would divide millions of Pashtuns on both sides, as experts question the practicability of the move.
"We will not let anyone divide the Pushtuns living on both sides of the border," Sirajul Haq, Jammat-e-Islami (JI) leader in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), told IslamOnline.net.
JI is one of the main parties in the six-party religious alliance Muttehida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), which is ruling the NWFP.
It has asked the government to backtrack on its decision to mine and fence parts of the joint borders with Afghanistan.
"It will worsen relations between the two neighbors."
Pakistan announced on Tuesday, December 26, it would go ahead with its plans to mine and fence parts of its 2400-kilometer frontier with Afghanistan to check cross-border terrorism.
President Prevez Musharraf tabled the idea during a meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in September 2005 in New York.
Pakistan has already established 700 checkpoints on the border and deployed over 80000 military and paramilitary personnel in order to stem the infiltration of militants.
Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his associates are thought to be hiding in the border region.
Conspiracy
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Haq warned that a mined border would kill innocent people.
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Haq, whose madrassah in Bajaur tribal agency was bombed last November killing 82 people, said cross-border movement could not be stopped by erecting a fence.
"Fencing and mining will not serve the interests of NWFP," he insisted.
The JI leader insisted that the issue could only be solved through peaceful dialogue and jirgas (tribal councils), warning that a mined border would kill innocent people.
The fencing plan has drawn criticism from Awami National Party (ANP), which represents Pashtun community in NWFP and the southeastern Balochistan province.
"This is a calculated conspiracy aimed at dividing over 30 million Pashtuns across the border," Senator Asfandyar Wali, ANP Chief, told a press conference in Peshawar Thursday.
He insisted that the plan is not the solution to problems across the troubled borders.
Asfandyar threatened his party will launch a protest campaign against the plan.
Afghanistan said the plan is "beating around the bush" in response to charges that Islamabad is "patronizing" Taliban and turning a blind eye to militants' infiltrations into Afghanistan to carry out attacks.
The UN also opposes the plan, arguing it will put a country already contaminated with numerous mines at further risk.
Impractical
Experts questioned the practicability of the government's fencing plan.
"It is almost impossible to effectively seal a largely unmarked frontier stretching from snow-covered mountains in the north to remote deserts on the border with Iran in the south," Professor Shamim Akhtar, a senior defense and security analyst, told IOL.
Akhtar maintained that the plan will not stop an intensifying Taliban fighting in Afghanistan.
"Pakistan's decision to reinforce the border is a reaction to the chorus of accusations over Taliban incursions," he said.
"But let me make it clear, it will be a futile exercise."
The expert added that the plan would rather aggravate tension between the two neighboring countries and incite anger among the ethnic Pashtun tribes.
Some 4,000 people have died this year in attacks, making 2006 Afghanistan's bloodiest year since the ouster of Taliban five years ago.
Repercussions
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| The plan would complicate the lives of millions of residents whose families are living on both sides of the border. |
Hag said the government's
decision would have serious repercussions for the residents of NWFP's settled
areas and Pushtun tribes including the Wazir, Mehsood, Aurakzai, Shinwari,
Afridi, Mohmand, Salarzai, and Mashwani.
The announcement has created unrest among thousands of
tribesmen, who reside at one side of the border and work on other
side.
"Innocent Pashtuns must not pay the price of bitter relations
between the two countries," said Zahid Khan, a senior ANP
leader.
The rugged border belt is inhabited
by deeply conservative and fiercely independent ethnic Pashtuns, who have blood
relations on both sides of the frontier.
The government maintains that fenced
and mined borders will not affect the movement of people who constantly enter
both territories without any hindrance for work.
However, residents say the plan will
add to the woes they already suffer by the American bombings and
raids.
"I can never trust the assurances made by our government
because this government cannot protect us, our lives and properties from
American bombs and missiles," Zarnoor Afridi, a resident of the troubled town of
Wana, told IOL.
The tribal area has been ravaged with repeated US bombings
and air strikes that allegedly target Al-Qaeda leaders.
Zarnoor, a resident of the troubled town of Wana, has been
working as a laborer in Afghanistan's Paktika province for last various
years.
"It seems if our government is
planning to completely seal the border in near future, and the mining and
fencing is the beginning of its plans", he said adding that the decision will
also divide hundreds of families living across the
border.
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