PESHAWAR, Sept 21: NWFP Governor Khalilur Rehman on Wednesday called upon federal authorities to renew an agreement on the demarcation of borders between Pakistan and Afghanistan as the same had expired.
“The official term of the Durand Line Agreement has expired and I have asked the federal government to seek its renewal,” Governor Khalil said.
His remarks came in response to a question about Pakistan’s proposal on fencing the border with Afghanistan. The comments are likely to re-ignite a controversy over whether or not the 1893 Durand Line Agreement is time-specific.
The agreement signed between the then ruler of Afghanistan, Amir Abdur Rehman and Sir Henry Mortimer Durand had led to the demarcation of boundaries between the then British India and Afghanistan.
For decades Afghanistan has disputed the so-called Durand Line with some Afghan historians claiming that the agreement signed under duress was vaild for 100 years only. According to those historians the agreement had expired in January 1993.
The English text of the agreement, however, does not mention any time limit.
On the border-fencing proposal, the governor said that Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan was long and porous and hadn’t been demarcated clearly at several points.
But the governor said the proposal had raised hackles as many Afghan tribesmen who had their kith and kin living on this side of the border were uncomfortable with the idea.
TRIBAL AREAS INTEGRATION INTO THE NWFP: The governor backed calls for tribal areas’ integration into the NWFP, saying the move would benefit tribesmen.
“I personally think it (integration) is good for the tribal people,” he said. “Frankly, I support this idea.”
But the government needs to develop the tribal areas, he said. “You bring development to the area and then see how the tribal people can integrate with rest of the country,” he said.
About amending the Frontier Crimes Regulation, Gov Khalil acknowledged that certain clauses of the British-era law were in conflict with human rights and said that a committee he had set up was visiting the tribal areas to elicit the views of the tribal people and suggest suitable amendments.
BAITULLAH MEHSUD: The governor expressed concern at recent incidents in South Waziristan and said that he would urge Corps Commander in Peshawar, Lt Gen. Safdar Hussain, to call in militant commander Baitullah Mehsud to discuss the situation with him.
“I am going to give it a shot,” he said and held the view that Baitullah was doing something that the government could not tolerate. “He (Baitullah) is asking people to close audio shops and is trying to introduce the Taliban system.”
He said that at time of signing the peace deal with the government, Mehsud had a total of eighty people with him. “Now he has gathered around 2,000 people and he is asking people to do this and that.”
The NWFP governor’s statement about Abdullah Mehsud is at variance with Lt Gen Safdar’s who at a recent press conference in Peshawar had described the militant commander as a “soldier of peace”.
The governor admitted that the situation in Shakai in South Waziristan was getting bad again and militants were violating the terms of the peace accords signed with the government. He said that the government could not fight at two fronts simultaneously, referring to the ongoing military operations in North Waziristan and the fresh disturbances in South Waziristan.
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