Another dimension of the inhospitable terrain is scarcely mentioned or analysed. Although there are thousands of Afghans who cross the border into and out of Afghanistan on a daily basis at some well-known crossings, like Chaman, Gadani, Birmal, Ghulam Khan, Saidgi, Kharlachi, Laka Tiga, Teri Mangal, Torkham, Nawa Pass, etc. where some systems are in place to check and scrutinise the documents of men and women crossing, there are no such arrangements along the entire length of the border. In order to keep a watch over the entry of militants to and from Afghanistan, a huge network of security posts on the border has been established since 2003-04. On the Pakistani side of the border, there are about 1,150 security posts, which are manned and supervised round the clock, using equipment and technology to check or prevent crossing by suspected militants. On the Afghan side, there are roughly 150 posts to keep vigil over the crossing of the border.
![](https://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/712.jpg)
Now there is another bizarre idea of sealing the border, by erecting a wall that will make it impossible for anyone to cross the border except at a few designated openings. Here, firstly, one might consider the magnitude of the problem of erecting such a wall and whether any such project would be justified on any ground or yardstick. The Nato and Afghan officials have been agitating on the issue of volunteers crossing over into Afghanistan and taking part in the fighting in that country against the Afghan and coalition forces. But one might ask: on how many occasions in the past 13 years have those crossing over into Afghan territory for militant attacks been intercepted, encountered, captured or killed? If indeed, there is big movement of volunteers into Afghanistan from the tribal areas, there would have been most certainly instances of the Afghan/coalition forces engaging those volunteers and killing some of them and then showing this to the world media. The Nato forces have all the latest equipment, plus the facility of radars, unmanned reconnaissance planes, night goggles, etc. to spot any such movement of militants, more so when it has been allegedly taking place on a ‘daily’ basis for years now. The fact is that there is no evidence to suggest that Afghans or other volunteers, based in the tribal areas, have been going across in large numbers and attacking Afghan government positions and installations. Having said that, one must admit that some, a relatively small number of people, would certainly succeed from time to time to escape incognito into Afghan territory to carry out attacks despite all the precautions taken by both the governments. But such few people should not determine or influence the course or tempo of resistance, which is mainly and predominantly an indigenous struggle.
Would such a movement of a small number of individuals (it is impossible for groups to cross) warrant the construction of a wall all along the border? The claim that Pakistani border posts in Bajaur and Dir also come under attack from Afghan-based groups of the Pakistani Taliban, would not merit consideration for the concrete fencing of the border because those attacks are mostly launched not by crossing the border, but by rockets and missiles fired by the disgruntled Swat Taliban militants.
Then there is the stupendous cost of this project running into billions of rupees. Because the Pakistan-Afghanistan border traverses through high altitude snow-bound peaks, zigzagging ravines, thick forests, populated villages and rivulets, it will be difficult to raise a wall here. The cost of keeping round-the-clock watch over this behemoth would be unbearable. And would such a wall completely seal the border? The US-Mexico border is one of the most carefully regulated and controlled borders in the world. The US is spending an astounding amount of money on preventing the infiltration of illegal immigrants into its territory and has committed a large number of forces to block the entry of such immigrants. But has it worked?
The other fallout of the project — perhaps, more important from the political angle — is the provocation it will cause in Kabul. No government in Afghanistan would accept the logic behind the gigantic project on the border. It will be considered a hostile act that will perpetuate an already acrimonious relationship.
The reaction from the people of the area would be no less hostile because such a wall would cut across communities, tribes, jointly-owned properties and would come in the way of trade and commerce, as well as create distances amongst families. Furthermore, the wall would be clearly a violation of the Durand Line agreement, which remains valid to this day between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The easement rights would be violated for residents living in proximity to the border on both sides.
In the face of such overwhelming odds and at the cost of creating resentment among tribesmen as well as generating tense relations with an important neighbour, would it be worthwhile to pursue the idea of erecting a concrete barrier? If the Berlin Wall and the US-Mexico border can be breached, would such a wall be safe for all time to come? Nations identify and seek durable solutions to problems they confront. Resolving one problem and creating a host of others at such a cost to the country is not a feasible idea. The sooner the idea of constructing this wall is abandoned the better.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 11th, 2014.
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COMMENTS (41)
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From the comments here I can see Afghanis are full of false beliefs and pride but what pride is there in begging everywhere? Amir Abdur Rahman signed Durrand Line treaty and it is for all to see and there is no end date on it. When Afghan lost 2nd Afghan war to British, they agreed to act like buffer and satellite state of British India which is why foreign policy for Amir was run by British. Afghanistan is used to be used by others which is why it's still servant of India.
@Fareed: Grace is thick! He or She is concered with every one other than Pakistan growing existance questions.
Rex Minor
@grace
Seems like you have some grave concerns for Afghans. Can i suggest something, dont try to show Afghans down cause you are not in a better situation. Maybe redirect that focus into your country and try to help your country and your people instead of wasting your time and blaming Afghans.
Go and address energy crises mate. Your country is dying of energy hanger.
Go and address water crises, by 2020 your country will be dying of drough - the count down has began without you knowing it.
Go and eredicate extremism from karachi and kpk, balochistan etc, you know better the consequences.
Look after your minorities, every month at least five is dead from minority groups across the country.How about you stop living in dreamland and accept that you can't harm Afghans in anyway anymore cause they are progressing a head and you people are progressing backward.
You like it or not but the game plan has changed and the scenario of 1980s will be repeated but this time in Pakistan - do whatever you can to stop it but you will fail cause it is up to big powers and Afghans and India will give them hand to make it successful!
Have a nice day ahead!
@grace Seems like you have some grave concerns for Afghans. Can i suggest something, dont try to show Afghans down cause you are not in a better situation. Maybe redirect that focus into your country and try to help your country and your people instead of wasting your time and blaming Afghans.
Go and address energy crises mate. Your country is dying of energy hanger. Go and address water crises, by 2020 your country will be dying of drough - the count down has began without you knowing it. Go and eredicate extremism from karachi and kpk, balochistan etc, you know better the consequences. Look after your minorities, every month at least five is dead from minority groups across the country. How about you stop living in dreamland and accept that you can't harm Afghans in anyway anymore cause they are progressing a head and you people are progressing backward. You like it or not but the game plan has changed and the scenario of 1980s will be repeated but this time in Pakistan - do whatever you can to stop it but you will fail cause it is up to big powers and Afghans and India will give them hand to make it successful!Have a nice day ahead!
Amazing, how some of us Pakistanis think of ourselves against the Afghans. We do not rule them and neither are we an extremely powerful and wealthy country that we can do whatever we wish with them. We forgot that we were paid by the West&Arabs for the Afghan war and the refugees and we hardly spent any of that aid on them but used it on our military and that is when we developed our nuclear technology and so forth.
We want Kashmir but we deny the same to Afghanistan...double standard much? I am a Pashtun and I wish both Pak and Afghanistan to be close friends/allies where boundaries does not exist. We should allow afghans use our ports and we should share our workforce. There is so much we can do together rather than fighting over strategic dept and area.
I would personally hate if we are separated by a fence or a wall and would fight against it. And I suggest reading a little on the history of Pashtuns and their ancestors.
The vast majority of pakistani pakhtoons do not want to join Afghanistan and that a fact verifiable by any survey. So the story ends here. No claim is viable if the indigenous people are not interested. As for the stupid stories of afghan riches and bravery, its exactly this fool's paradise that has brought u to this situation. U r totally living on handouts and u say u r very rich. The Amir who signed the durand line agreement may claim later that he doesn't understand english and u can keep up his tradition by denying basic facts but the reality is still there. So rather then dreaming about adding parts of Pakistan to ur sorry country, try to build ur country so that it can offer a prosperous and safe future to your children. Good luck.
@Rex Minor: The asylum process for smuggled Afghanis in Europe may be difficult but the onus is on Afghani refugees to integrate in society and find jobs. That they choose to remain in ghettos on social assistance is not due to government discrimination. The German administration is very fair in trying to help refugees integrate and adjust - whether they are Somali, Iraqi, Afghani or any other refugee. It's not fair to say that a refugee who has gone through the process has no rights to work or integrate but no one can help an Afghani refugee who does not want to work or integrate in Europe. If you believe that Afghanistan is richest country in the world, then you can help people there in Afghanistan stay and make a better country by focusing on making a better society. Then they don't have to smuggle themselves in dangerous ways all over the world to live on social assistance. I agree that Afghanistan should focus on developing its riches, even though I know it's not as rich as you want to believe, because it is better for Pakistan too not to have millions of poor Afghanis living in its midst.
@Grace: Grace your self, and do not cross the red line!I Afghanistan is the richest country in the region because of its copper mines which once the yankees leave will the excavation work start by the Chinese. It is upto Afghanistan whether it allows the Indians or the chinese or the Russians it is none of Pakistan business.! Any please do not concern yourself with Germany problems either it has a National Unity Government and its asylum seekers have no rights for work or to integrate.
Rex Minor
@Rex Minor: Obviously European border security cannot stop Afghan human smugglers either. If you are an Afghan refugee living in Germany you will be joined by thousands more unless Afghanistan is serious about giving up serving as a base for Indian agencies. Afghanistan needs to be loyal to its own people and serve their interests if they hope to have a better future. Last year Germany accepted over 200, 000 asylum seekers who had to smuggle themselves in under danger circumstances. The number of refugees or " asylbewerber " will only keep rising unless Afghanistan government realises that their people need a future in their own country. The people in Germany are worried about integration problems, poverty, pressure on social systems and more due to refugees.
@Khyla Maseed: The only party that claimed what you claim had long changed their stance even before the tsunami hit them in KPK.. You may live with that dream either in Kabul or New Delhi. No Pashtun living in Pakistan would ever want to share anything with Afghans. They already took a deep blow in the 80's. The highest number of illegal applicants of Pakistani NIC are Afghans.
Yesterday we the Gemans celebrated the day when the wall fell and with it the walls and boundries throughout Europe! The Afghans are also Indo Germanic Aryans and will break any wall or boundry which identify a limit for them. Be careful you Indians and Pakistanis when they start rolling out of their homes there is no human force which can stop them. Just read your history!! Even the so called Alexander the great avoided these folks and used a route at night when his forces advanced into India. This route is today used by the smugglers of opium and precious and semi precious stones.
Rex Minor
There are no boundaries. The Durand Line is outrageous and artificial line. Pashtuns are one nation and we do not allow anyone to divide us.
A zoo can remain without cages and fence, but Pakistan can never. Surrounding countries will be troubled, as Pakistan people have the bad habit of crossing border into neighboring countries. Ones they leave their habits and behave then one can think of eliminating the border walls. Now don't start the poem that I am Indian. I am from Dhaka, and know you people very well.
Excellent answer HAMZA ,, See how much misconception these Indian Back afganis are spreading ,, that was we who give them shelter adn still living in karachi in great number involve in all illegal activities... Time to throw Back all these Refugees back to Afganistan.its seems We Pakistan created problem for them .. Say no to single Afgani on Pakistani Land.
@Oats: A load of crap; the Amir of Afghanistan ordered the massacre of the British Amabssador and nis staff and all other foreigners on the streets of Kabul. No Brits survived from the 18000 strong and their accompanying force with horses and mules escaped from the snows of Afghanistan. And when the Brits complained and drew the attention of The Amir to the agreement, the reply was prompt, the Amir is not familiat wth the english language. Pushto is the language of the Afghans and Dari is used to tell persian tales.
Rex Minor
@truthbetold: There is no expiry date on Durrand Line treated which is signed by Afghan King. Go and look at the original in London. Seems like more Indians are here to order their Afghan subjects and confuse them with wrong facts. Afghan refugees should move to India.
Fareed! I am a pashtun and we pushtoon didn't want the greator pukhtonastan or other country. We are happy in our own country. So plz pay ur full attention on ur own country.
Erecting a wall an unworkable idea., Absolutely NOT. Countries or nations who know or realize how to live and safe guard its nation, Nothing is Impossible. If Chinese could built a wall with bare hands, what's wrong in 21st century to build using machines plus humans. We have 3-4 million Afghan refugees-instead letting them distroy our labor market, introducing gun culture, drugs and what not. Put them to work (rather most of just sitting and coming up with destruction plans) and pay them daily wages. Machines, trucks, engineers etc Pakistan hv enough to put to use.
@vinsin: Indus Valley Civilization is one of the oldest in the world and existed before Vedic civilization. The language of these cities is still to be deciphered but all Pakistanis take pride in being part of the oldest civilization known to mankind. Yes we have Bhuddhist and Ganhdhara civilization in KPK but it came much later. @Fareed: I am glad we agree that only Pakhtuns can decide their own future. If you want to think that we want to be part of greater Pakhtunistan with Hazara, Tajik and Uzbek than you can play the same Indian game of decades which brought ruin to Sardar Daood and other Kabul leaders. Pakhtun are not so easily tricked by Indians like in Kabul. Afghanistan is name given by British to that country 200 years ago but you say when it was province of Persians called Khorasan it was independent? No it was not. If Ariana , Khorasan etc were all old names of Kabul lands why it bother you to know 7000 year old Indus Valley Civilization and other names for Pak show that Pakistan is older than Afghanistan and your master country India? If you want to believe all the Afghan refugee who are smuggling on ships and trucks in Europe and North America are university teachers and highly paid workers, you need to come to Europe and North America to see that most live in low income housing on welfare. Making more Afghan refugees all over world is no help to fragile Afghanistan.
The actual walls exist in human minds, for which a ladder as high as the sky is not sufficient to clamber them!
These are uncountable walls of ignorance, religious insanity, hatred, religious or ethnic segregation, blind prejudices, economic inequalities and so on in our daily interpersonal relationships.
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Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it ― Jalal-ud-din Rumi
Let us remind ourselves that the so caled durand line is drawn in the space about the ground and the mountains too and in reality does not exist. Also the purpose of the line drawn by Mr Durand was not to establish a border line between the British India and Afghanistan( the Brits had neither the military stregnth nor the authority to border Afghanistan since it was the Pashtun tribesmen who were sovereign separating the two, but to identify the area of hegemony ,of the Brits beyond which the influence of the Russians, yes the Russians will be challenged by the CROWN.
Rex Minor
@globalobserver: You are spot on. What is taught in the curriculum makes most Pakistanis believe that Aurangzeb was a Pakistani who ruled two third of present India, Afghanistan and beyond. One should not be surprised, if one fine day Pakistan goes to UN not only claiming Kashmir, but India as well.
@R.Subramanian: So the state of Israel is also isolated from the world? You need a "wall" to isolate a nation? Kudos to your IQ and your recommenders!
No you need a fence so that you can see across. Walls allow people to engage in hidden endeavors such as tunnel constructions.
Not being able to know/see whats going on across also adds to unnecessary stress.
For those wanting to escape, walls make it difficult since you have to climb over and it becomes easy for guards to shoot you. If it is a fence, you can always cut it and crawl under as some North Koreans have successfully done and gone to South Korea.
@Humza Well said majroity of Pashtun are in Pakistan but where are they? They have indeed decided and that is why they have a movement called Great Pashutunistan!
Dont be that ignorant thinking persians were iranians. Just to enrich your poor history knowldege Afghanistan just changed its name 200 years back, it is known by other names such as Ariana, Khorasan Bakhtar etc. Balkh is world's oldest city rich with history of civlizations that changed the region that is why it is called ummul-belad (mother of cities) and Parthian lived in Balkh and Parth empire founded and expanded from Balkh not from Tehran!
There are more pakistani refugees in west compared to the whole population of Afghanistan. Unfortuntely most of them work in pump stations and grocery shops whilst Afghans work as university teachers, lecturers, UN officials etc.
What and how we are paying you is very obvious it is done by your own people just like you used hekmatyar to destry Kabul there are your own poeple willing to do a better job and beat hekmatyar, just see around you what is happening in your country. Once you know what is happening then you know that you are getting paid back!
Afghan claim on KPK has 4 pitfalls. 1. For any claim to be viable the people of that area must want to join the other country. There is no wish in KPK for that. 2. If shared ethnicity is a criteria then tajik areas of afghanistan should join tajikistan, rather all world boundaries should be altered on ethnicity. 3. Afghanistan and british india negotiated and signed the durand line. The areas were not snatched by force. 4. Afghanistan is a very unstable and divided country with no real government.
@Humza:
"You want to say Pakistan is kid but you must know Indus Valley civilization cities are 7000 years old."
Pakistani official history as taught in Pakistan studies says Pakistan started with Mohammed bin Quasim who was not from the 7000 year old Indic civilization. Pakistanis feel they are Arabs, Persians and Turkik. So, you can't claim the ancient Indic civilization as yours when convenient.
@Humza: What was the Languages of Indus Valley Civilization? How the culture and traditions of Indus Valley has to do with current Pakistan? IWC was extended till current day Afghanistan. IWC is related to Pakistan then Pakistan name is not India.
"Furthermore, the wall would be clearly a violation of the Durand Line agreement, which remains valid to this day between Pakistan and Afghanistan."
No, the Durand line agreement ended in 1993. The Pakhtoon and Balochistan areas covered under the Durand agreement lease were to be handed over to Afghanistan.
Totally agree with the arguments of Mohmand Saib, of course, we are already having many problems. Should not flame for creating others. When Berlin wall & Mexican wall can't work the same will be the result by means of dividing the same people on both side of the border & at the same time a violation of Durand Line agreement as referred by the writer.
@Grace
Such a great idea "mined border over a 5 km width" but do you have money for that or where do you get those mines from? Would you go and beg for it from USA or UK or maybe another of your masters Saudi or maybe your current master chinna. It is very easy to call someone puppet but look at your country's relation with big powers then you learn the mastership and puppet relationship!
A country called failed state and on the verge of collaps is talking so big that I can't believe it. Go and feed your people who are dying of hunger and thirst, how many people died of hanger in tharpak village.... i dont know the name but read the news on this website, maybe go and save them. It is enough of your ego maybe you can use that money to give proper education so that they stop attending those madrasas and help your country cause we Afghans belieive a stabilized neighbour is good for any country whether it is USA, Russia.. Germany or Afghanistan or be it Pakistan.
@Fareed: Yes it's up to Pakhtun to decide their own future and majority of Pakhtun are in Pakistan .Live with your Farsiwan, Hazara and Uzbek family! I dare you say your talk in Charsadda. You want to say Pakistan is kid but you must know Indus Valley civilization cities are 7000 years old. They existed before Afghanistan came to be as country 200 years ago or was province ruled by Persians. You have tried to pay Pakistan long time but nothing has happened except that Afghanis become refugees. What are you going to repay now? You want to make more Afghani refugees smuggling into Western countries for asylum?
It is up to Pashtuns (Afghans) to decide what they want. You cant just come and put a wall inside my house and divide my family!
When does Pakistan accepts kashmir part of India? never, right? How do you expect Afghans to let you build a wall there. Look at pakistan's age, Pakistan is still a kid and it is far from wisdom to expect a father (Loy Afghanistan) give away its part to a stranger. Just be patient we will repay you what you have done to our country and get back what belongs to us!
@Grace Don't bring India into this cause it is our mission and agenda and they got nothing to do with this but if they offer assistance we will not reject it.
Thank you Sir for telling like it is. There is no solution for terrorism & its infrastructure in sealing Durand Line rather it is further disintegration & isolation of people by negatively impacting on their daily lives. Peshawar & Quetta have no other jobs opportunities except some trade & health services it offers to Afghanistan. People in Karachi, Lahore & Islamabad have industries & other opportunities but Peshawar & Quetta have none. So please have some mercy on us as we are already under attack from all sides & all forces.
@Cynic_Waheed According to UN charter mining of civilian area is a war crime. Do we want to wage war against Pashtuns people on both sides of Durand Line?
@Grace Honourable thing would be to fight Indian face to face on longer Indian Pakistani border not in Afghanistan.
ET please print as I want to convey the Pashtun sentiments to my Pakistani brother & sisters. Don't gag us please listen to us.
Right on!
Why nobody thought of this before 1947. if Kasmaris can live seperated why not pakhtuns.There is a big difference between Pakistani and afghan pakhtuns. geography can not be changes otherwise every country has to realign thier borders. Putting a wall is the only answer.
We need to send back 2 million Afghans living in this country. Good percentage of them involved nefarious and heinous activities
You seem to forget that Afghanistan has been a willing puppet of India ever since Britain left the region in 1947. Their allegiance to India has been the basis of their own instability since they have always directed their attention at destabilizing Pakistan's border region instead of working for their own people. Fortunately, Pakistanis whether in KPK or in Baluchistan have rejected the Indian inspired and Afghan conducted operations. You are right that a wall might be unfeasible but a mined border over a 5 km width between Pak and Afghanistan would prevent the intrusion of these provacateurs from Afghanistan while we also strengthen border crossings. Until we can secure the border, terrorism from Afghanistan can never be contained. Just so you know, my own Pashtun relatives in Peshawar are in favour of sealing the border in as much as possible so let's not get emotional about upsetting public opinion. We have seen Peshawar go from being a clean city to a mess.
Please.. Im sick and tierd of hearing the term 'cross-border infiltration!' I say not only fence it, mine the whole damn border except for 'official' entry/exits to end this madness! If people want to travel/trade they can use these points as happens in other countries!
Regards,