“They are mercenaries” my friend, who serves in an important post in northern Afghanistan, tells me. “They are not necessarily Taliban or al Qaeda. They come from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. They are here, in Afghanistan, to assassinate those of us who are working for peace. They are paid to do a job; they hang around waiting for an opportunity and then they act. I have lost six good friends to them over the last one year, the most recent, just two days ago and this is why my own security is being upgraded.”
We were speaking in a heavily fortified compound in northern Afghanistan. The sound of labourers erecting yet more barricades against potential suicide bombers echoing through the frozen evening air as the Afghan National Army, police and private guards patrolled the closed road outside, guarded the compound and house entrances and maintained a twenty-four hour watch from behind sandbags on the roof.
“The situation is that the Taliban and al Qaeda from Central Asia and elsewhere are trying to make a base in this area and this makes it a very dangerous place to be. They can strike at anytime and anywhere, which is why it is also necessary for you to have guards at all times and the reason why you cannot move about freely. It is too dangerous and, for this, we have Pakistan to blame and perhaps, Saudi Arabia too”.
My friend is embarrassed to name Pakistan, but once this is out in the open, he feels free to continue. “It is beyond comprehension for Pakistan to persistently interfere in Afghanistan. It has nothing concrete to achieve here. It does not, in truth, make sense for the present situation to continue. If Pakistan would stop, everyone would gain. There would be a return to peace in Afghanistan and our country could return to normalcy after so many years of war and unrest. American and other foreign troops could also leave then and let us Afghans decide our own future which is exactly what the majority of the nation wants to do. Can you tell me why they are all here, what they are doing and what are their long-term plans as nothing is clear right now?”
Unable to give a concise answer to this unexpected string of questions, I ask about the suicide bomber arrested nearby a couple of days earlier. “Paid by people in Pakistan” I am told. “He had arms, explosives, grenades and a suicide vest. We will know more after his interrogation is complete. If Pakistan will stop funding these insurgents, directly or indirectly, there is still time to rebuild the brotherly friendship our countries used to have. This is of paramount importance and must be done so that the entire region can work together and thrive. If the situation is allowed to continue, things will go from bad to worse until a point of no return is reached. Already, ordinary Pakistanis are facing problems in Afghanistan and whilst this is certainly not good, it is completely understandable.”
The situation has reached such an impasse that many people from Pakistan who travel there for business, avoid — if they can — speaking in Urdu. For many of the reasons mentioned above, many people in Afghanistan tend to blame Pakistan for just about everything and anything bad that happens inside their country. Regardless of how true or not the actual ground reality is, clearly Pakistan needs to do something to address this negative perception, or else its relationship with Afghanistan may be beyond repair.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 10th, 2012.
COMMENTS (24)
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Thousands of Pakistani laborers work in Afghanistan in the construction business and their payday is pretty handsome due to the higher exchange rate of the Afghani converted to the Pakistani Rupee. These laborers live in fear and while walking the streets they cross the street when they see a group of Afghans approaching them for fear of reprisals and retribution for speaking Urdu and their darker skin betrays their nationality even if they refrain from speaking.
@sid: How does India fare with its neighbors? Nepal doesn't like you. Bangladesh hates you. China despise you. And Pakistan, despite attempts, haven't had any success.
@khan bhai And living in denial is Pakistani pakistan's national past time.
Bashing Pakistan is a national past time of Afghans, just like it is for Indians. They got nothing better to do.
@Faraz You know nothing about Pashtuns.
Everybody is talking about Pakistan. Are you guys blind? Indian army with the backing of Indian government is killing Kashmiris and Kasmir is literally under martial law for so long. The world somehow does not seems to care about Kashmiris. Are they not Human? The human right activists are dead and dumb for Kashmiris. why this hypocrisy for?
@Rumi Balkhi
Well FATA and KP have pushtoons, but Baluchistan has Baloch majority. And Baloch have suffered under Pushtoon rule; read some history. Afghanistan’s 30 years old civil war has caused millions of deaths and displacements. It has no central authority. The society is divided into hundreds of tribes which can’t live under a single authority. And Taliban are popular in rural pushtoon areas of Afghanistan, but they are hated by moderate and urban pushtoon. Who told you that pushtoon of Pakistan want to live under Taliban rule? Secular ANP and PPP were voted into power by KP. Pushtoons have integrated into Pakistan. The largest pushtoon city is not in KP, but it’s Karachi. 25 percent army is made up of pushtoons. The entire 60,000 strong FC operating in FATA consists of pushtoon. The country’s entire transport system is controlled by pushtoons. Afridi, Mehsud tribes etc. are running the NATO’s supply line. There is no separatist movement in FATA or KP. Nobody wants to be a part of failed state of Afghanistan. Pakistan’s real problem is religious extremism by our ex proxies. Today, Taliban killed ordinary pushtoon in Khyber; these religious fanatics have destroyed pushtoon culture and traditions. The leader of an anti-Taliban tribal militia was killed by Taliban today. The jihadi groups nurtured during past 3 decades are responsible for the chaos. You know nothing about KP and FATA. And I am not a hardcore Pak nationalist.
@faraz: And the next day after that partition Pashtoons will ask for FATA and KP and may be even Pashtoon areas of Balochistan like Quetta etc. What will be your quickfix them ?
@Tony Singh
What has Baluchistan got to do with Talibanistan. No Baloch is involved in religious terrorism. They want control of their resources, and I support their cause. Heavy handed approach has made things worse, and a segment of Baloch want independence. But the majority is still ready to live inside an autonomous Baluchistan province. Further, the Baloch are divided between Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, so a Baloch country is impossible to create without the collapse of other two states. Constant civil war, ethnic violence and absence of central authority is the rationale behind division of Afghanistan.
@CommonSense:
Your statement: "Infact, If it wasn’t for Pakistan, there would be no Taliban" is absolutely correct. If it wasn't for Pakistan aiding, training and abetting the Taliban, there would no Taliban indeed. No OBL, no blowing up of the World Trade Center and no terrorists and no war on terror. The world would have continued as normal where people could travel without the fear of getting blown up.
@faraz: Will the "New Pakhtoonistan" also include Balochistan?
@CommonSense: I agree with what you have very eloquently pointed out. But to clear one point here, there has been no humanitarian intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan. Intervention for human protection is altogether a different genre; what happened in both the stated countries was a 'war' of interests.
I think the solution to all the problem lies in our country. we need to have civilian control over pakistan army.
The International Community should grant the Pushtun their 'independence' by establishing an independent Pushtunistan in the southern parts of Afghanistan . Pakistan is welcome to help the Taliban achieve 'Greater Pushtunistan'.
Not only the Afghans, the whole World will / is already blaming Pakistan!
Only 2 days ago we heard a Govt representative sound warnings of US denying WB and IMF from bailing Pakistan out.
The signs are already there. OBL being found in Pakistan only confirmed the suspicious that Pakistan is being duplicitous.
Pakistan will be blamed by everyone concerned unless it stops sheltering the Taliban in its Territory, especially in North Waziristan. You cannot claim sovereignty and allow Terrorists to take shelter in your Territory.
Partition is not the solution for Afghanistan; detrimental to Afghanistan's security as well as Pakistan's.
An independent government in eastern Afghanistan would be resulted in re-emergence of Pashtunistan issue which has been one of the causes Pakistan has been interfering in Afghanistan for.
The solution lies in a broad national government, having presentation of all the ethnic groups according to their population.
@commonsense Common sense is not so common after all.
I have been writing in these columns that that the policy of the Pakistani Establishment makes the country the most hated in Afghanistan, cutting across all ethnicities and geography. It is not like Indians are going all around telling Afghans, hate Pakistan. Ask any non Pakistani in Afghanistan what is the role played by Pakistan and the scale of the monumental tragedy will be revealed. Pakistan will reap the fruits of this harvest too, likely to be very bitter though.
Partition of Afghanistan is the only solution; let the taliban form their Islamic emirate in the pushtoon dominated areas of Afghanistan and let Pakistanis reap the benifits of good taliban living across their porous border. As Imran khan claims that taliban are pushtoon nationalists, so why should the 55 % non-pushtoons of Afghanistan live under pushtoon rule. The Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazara etc in the North can form thier own country.