More emotions than reason

K-P belongs to Afghans: Mahmood Khan Achakzai

The comments by Pakhtun nationalist leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai — which he claims have been taken out of context — to the effect that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) “belongs to Afghans” were calculated to cause trouble. They have. He was speaking to a Kabul-based English daily and the quote that is the cause of contention is this — “K-P belongs to Afghans and they can live there without fear and irritation”. Considering that K-P is currently home to around 2.6 million registered and unregistered Afghan refugees that the Pakistan government would like to see repatriated at the earliest opportunity, the comment contains no ambiguity whatsoever. Mr Achakzai is of the view that not only are they entitled to stay where they are but that the land they currently sit on, which presumably takes in the entire Pakhtun-majority area, belongs to Afghanistan as well.

To describe these comments as unhelpful understates the matter by several orders of magnitude. Whilst Mr Achakzai is entitled to his opinion, there are times when discretion should rule, and this is one of them. Pakistan has a duty, national and international, to treat refugees fairly and in a humane manner, but in common with every other country in the world, wishes that their stay is as brief as possible and they be repatriated as soon as reasonably possible. The Durand Line is undoubtedly a painful colonial legacy but it is also a recognised international border and that is not going to change in the foreseeable future. Thinking or believing otherwise is nothing more than an irresponsible fantasy, especially when it comes from a person who is well aware of both what they are saying, the context in which the words are uttered and their possible consequences. Pakistan has discharged and continues to discharge far beyond its duty in respect of Afghan refugees. That is not going to change any more than the border will be redrawn. We accept that repatriation is going to be both painful and difficult for many of them, but Afghanistan is their home ultimately and Mr Achakzai’s disingenuous comments that do no more than stoke the fires of Pakhtun nationalism serve nobody well.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 2^nd, 2016.

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