| November 18, 2001 | Sunday | Ramazan 2, 1422 |
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On western borders
Mere discussions
AMID conflicting reports about the fate of Kandahar, the headquarters of the Taliban movement and the last important city still in their control, the need for diplomatic moves to install a broad-based government in Afghanistan has acquired even greater urgency. With the Taliban exodus to the hills beginning in the south and pro-Taliban forces hopelessly outnumbered and surrounded by hostile forces in Kunduz to the north, the writing is very much there on the wall for the Taliban. The beleagured Taliban are soon likely to be left with no territory of any worth in Afghanistan. Given this backdrop, it is gratifying to know that Pakistan is getting positive signals from all sides with regard to the formation of a broad-based post-Taliban government. A number of diplomatic moves are afoot and, though a consensus has not yet emerged, the diplomats, mercifully, are not working at cross-purposes.
On Thursday, America’s special envoy, James Dobbins, met President Musharraf and others to discuss the government-making issue in Afghanistan. He has already met exiled former king Zahir Shah in Rome. Also on Thursday, Iranian Interior Minister Mousavi-Lari met the president and apprised him of his government’s view on the Afghan situation. Earlier in the week, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal had unveiled a joint Saudi-Pakistan peace plan for a broad-based government in Kabul. Meanwhile, on Friday President Musharraf had a telephone conversation with the Chinese President who also supported the moves to set up a multi-ethnic government in Afghanistan. Significantly, the Russians, too, seem to have softened their support for the Northern Alliance, with a senior diplomat stating that Pukhtoons should play a prominent role in any future government. All these plans do not go against, but seem in harmony with, the Security Council resolution passed on Wednesday.
The Council resolution reaffirmed that the UN should play a “central role” in establishing a transitional council that should pave the way for a broader government acceptable to all sections of Afghanistan’s population. Earlier, press reports said Pakistan had received positive signals even from the Northern Alliance through Islamabad’s friends in Ankara and Tehran. This means virtually all sides agree on the need for moving with speed to ensure a UN presence in Kabul. In fact, by the time these lines appear in print, some peacekeeping troops might already have moved into Kabul. This peacekeeping force has the world body’s blessings, though it will not be wearing the UN’s blue helmet. Indications are that it will be replaced by a UN force consisting of troops drawn from some Muslim countries. There is a need now for calling a meeting of different Afghan factions at the earliest. There are hints that Qatar, as the current chairman of the Organization of Islamic Conference, might be willing to host such a meeting. Given the consensus that appears on all sides, one hopes the Afghan factions and diplomats from Afghanistan’s neighbours and other members of the US-led coalition will get the process going. The aim should obviously be to ensure an honest implementation of the UN plan that visualizes giving Afghanistan a government that would truly reflect its ethnic and cultural mosaic.
THE collapse of the Taliban regime seems to have created a serious problem for Islamabad because of the possibility of some retreating Taliban fighters entering Pakistan well armed. Reports in several newspapers and from various sources suggest that, as early as the fall of Kabul last week, some Taliban leaders — including the governor of the Nangarhar province and the chief justice of the regime — had fled to Pakistan. Acting swiftly, the Pakistan government has sent troop reinforcements to the border area in Balochistan directly opposite Kandahar and plans to take similar measures all along the western border.
It must be remembered that Pakistan’s 1,200-kilometre border with Afghanistan is extremely porous. The mountainous and inhospitable terrain make patrolling logistically very difficult and costly. Add to this the fact that much of the border opens out into areas with known pro-Taliban leanings, and where the writ of the government does not necessarily run all that effectively, and we have a difficult situation. Pakistan’s announcement on Saturday that it would not grant political asylum to Osama bin Laden or his protector, Mullah Mohammad Omar, is also welcome because allowing them safe passage would have contradicted everything the government has done by joining the US-led coalition against Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Apart from monitoring all non-regular entry points into Pakistan, the government must also look into further strengthening controls at more frequented border crossings like Chaman and Torkham. This is essential, because it should not be all that difficult for a Taliban fighter to lay down his arms, blend into the local civilian population and come knocking on Pakistan’s door to be let in as a refugee. The current situation warrants vigilance on our western border of the highest order and only those who know inside out of tribal life can deal with the situation.
THE Sindh transport secretary discussed the prospects of a mass transit master plan for Karachi with the visiting World Bank officials the other day. The visitors were briefed on the need for an integrated transport system for Karachi, including a revival of the Karachi Circular Railway, the induction of new buses on city routes, and the construction of the Northern Bypass and Lyari Expressway. In a welcome departure from the earlier policy, the transport secretary said that the city district government would be entrusted with the task of running Karachi’s urban transport system once it was in place. That said, the representatives of the city government remained conspicuous by their absence from the meeting. This was perhaps one time too many for the Sindh government officials to have merely discussed the prospects of an integrated public transport system for Karachi, as far as the city’s millions of troubled commuters are concerned. The federal government had earlier asked the provincial government to submit a plan for the revival of the KCR, including a financial proposal for the project. The Pakistan Railways and the officials of the defunct Karachi Mass Transit Plan officials are ostensibly working on such a proposal. This makes no sense, as the PR wants the KCR to be run and managed by the Sindh government, and the KMTP lies dead for all practical purposes. President Musharraf, when he visits Karachi next month, is expected to review the said proposal. At this stage, when these plans are still on the drawing board, the city government, as the representative of the people of Karachi, must be made part of the planning process. Karachi’s commuters have waited long enough for a viable public transport system, and for any such system to work it needs to be formulated in consultation with the representatives of the people, who have to live through the rigours of the commuting problems. However, the fact is that Karachi’s transport plans seldom go beyond discussions and paper work.