THE TORKHAM PARADOX | SHIRAZ ALI KHAN

The Torkham Paradox

By: Shiraz Ali Khan

   When the night sky was starting to light up with starts on the eve of Sunday night the Torkham incident took place and continuous firing teared up the night peace . The Afghan border petrol forces started to fire on the Pakistan territory focusing on the still under construction Torkham pass gate now named as Ali Changazi named after the Major who was killed in the current firing incidents on the Torkham border. The Afghan forces claimed that the shots were fired because Pakistan hadn’t consented the Afghan government for building the border gate . Pakistan forces retaliated as well and a small scale outburst of fighting took place which continued for nearly two days after leading to cease fire on Tuesday. Pakistan claimed that its building the gate some 37 meters in the territory of the Pakistan and doesn’t need to consent any one for it .



 However the Pakistan Government later did said while it called upon the Afghan Ambassador Omer  Zakhiwal to protest the aggression on the border that Pakistan had the consent of the afghan government to build the gate which was achieved in the recent meetings between the Afghan Commissioner and Pakistan Army Chief. Pakistan foreign minister Aziz chaudary summoned the  Afghan Ambassador Zakhiwal over the issue and recorded Pakistan protest over the issue . It was due to joint efforts of Zakhiwal and Aziz Chaudary which lead to the cease fire and diminished the tensions between the two neighboring states .

    In the prevailing months Pakistan forces without the consent of the elected government Handed over the Angore Adda a border crossing on the Durandin, South Waziristan to the Afghan Border Patrol officials which led to quite a row between the Elected government and the military establishment and now the case had been taken up in the Lahore high court.

Durand line named after sir Mortimer Durand and still not completely demarcated on the ground some thing of great importance or rather to be specific enmity to the Pashtuns tribe residing over the Pakistan tribal belt and afghan border adjoining territories especially the tribes of Shinwari and Wazirs who reside on both sides of the Durand line . The Torkham Border itself is gateway which crossed by about some 25000 people per day on average who cross it over for going to work and meeting friends and relatives.

   The issue can’t be understood if isolated when must take into account all the recent incidents and the short comings .It all started when Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Ahmed Mansur was killed in a drone strike on the Pakistani territory and the more important than that the he had travelled from iran to Pakistan on a Pakistani passport and bearing a Pakistani NIC. Pakistan protested over the issue with the us government saying that Pakistan should have been informed if such and action was to be taken. It came as heat wave because unlike regular drone strikes it wasn’t carried out Fata rather he was target in Blochistan near Dilbandin. But the status and reputation of Pakistan was truly damaged because all the key figures and leaders of the Al Qaida and Afghan Taliban were either killed on the Pakistani soil or died a natural death on the Pakistan soil . The Al Qaida key figure Usama Bin Ladin was target in Abbotabad and Mullah Omer was said to have died a natural death in Karachi .

  The international community pressurized Pakistan to come clean of the allegations of it Harboring Terrorist organizations and its leaders . And this sort of damage to the Pakistan image is the last thing the country need at the moment . As Modi is getting three standing ovations from the American congress in a single speech and India cruising itself to the Nuclear Supplier Group . Pakistan decided to put all the blame on the Afghan  Government and forces for infiltrating the Pakistan border and sending in terrorist from Afghanistan to Pakistan . And then the Angor Adda came into play Pakistan handed over the Angora Adda to the Afghan authorities as a gift to manipulate them into agreeing to building a fence along the Durand line . The Afghan government however didn’t reacted as Pakistan wanted and didn’t consented over the Torkham border gate leading to the two days stand off between the two countries .

   However what traumatized me the most was outburst of emotions of hatred and blood thirst between the general population of both the countries . The youths taking to social media and some resorting to taking up arms and gaining for the border . The people who suffered at the hands of this two days stand off were the Afghan refugees who were disrespected on every forum of the social interaction and even hurled up in parts of KPK and Punjab like sheep .

It did help into explaining the ideology of the left wing and communist political class of the country who form Zias regime claimed that the slogans of Islamic nationalism and Muslim Umma are just political point scoring topics and tools to emotionally black mail the masses for the goals of international powers. It proved that the people of the two countries maintain their own ideas and ideology whilst the Afghans claim that Pakistan and America were the first line allies of the Talibans and are responsible for the deaths of Afghans and destruction of their countries , 

   The Pakistani’s claims they have taken up some over twenty nine lack afghan refugees in , But as Afghani fails to mention in the end it were their own people that dragged the Dr. Najeeb in the streets of Kabul , The Pakistani’s cheekily omits the facts as to how much in international aid it had received on the behalf of the Afghan refugees and the Afghan refugees utilized that aid in Pakistan leading to an increase in GDP of the country .

Researcher Pakistan