US Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman has crossed the line. There have been strong reactions from Afghan parliamentarians and in the media to his comment on the Durand Line.
US Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman has crossed the line. There have been strong reactions from Afghan parliamentarians and in the media to his comment on the Durand Line.Grossman, US President Barack Obama’s special envoy, asserted the Durand Line was an internationally recognised border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
There were immediate protests. Political parties and members of the National Assembly (upper House) said any decision on the Durand Line would be for the Afghans and not the US to make. Grossman’s statement to a private TV channel during his recent visit to Kabul was dismissed as “interference” in Afghanistan’s affairs.
The US State Department spokesperson has said the US policy on the Durand Line “was correctly stated by Ambassador Grossman”. The newly accredited US ambassador to Afghanistan James Cunningham has backed the special envoy.
The Durand Line was drawn by British rulers in 1893, in violation of all international norms, during the reign of Abdul Rahman, who was king of Afghanistan. The line which cuts through an area populated by ethnic Pashtuns (called Pathans in Pakistan) has never been recognised by Afghans.
The Coalition for Change and Hope headed by former foreign minister, Dr Abdullah Abdullah, has declared that only the Afghan people can decide if the Durand Line is legitimate and no country or person has the right and authority to express a view.
Coalition spokesperson, Fazal Rahman Orya, pointed out that the UN has also not recognized the Durand Line as the official border with Pakistan.
“The position of political parties and coalitions is clear. The decision about Durand Line is neither the work of Afghan government nor the work of any other power. This issue is related to Afghan people to decide about with the help of UN.”
Bargaining point
An angry Orya accused Grossman of “political deceit” for raising the issue. “We appreciate the practical policy of US regarding Pakistan. We hope that US increases its pressures on Pakistan, because the country has been established artificially. Let it be removed from world map,” he said.
Sayed Jawad Husaini, leader of Right and Justice Party, said there was a political and a legal angle to the Durand Line controversy. While the legal discord “is not big … and, the international community can intervene to solve the issue”, he said the political side could be a bargaining point for Afghanistan. He was of the opinion that Afghanistan can get “great privileges”, but he did not specify what these would be.
Meanwhile, Abdul Ghafoor Lewal who heads the Centre for Regional Studies said the Afghan government should clarify the situation and spell out the geographical boundary of the country. “The Afghan government should tell the truth to Afghan people. This is a historic fact.”
MP Hafez Abdul Qayoom, a member of the National Assembly, accused the US of trying to be the “attorney general of the world”. He said, “A country should never interfere in such a problematic issue between Afghanistan and Pakistan. We can accept the US as judge for the world not as attorney general of the world.”
Afghan senator Ali Akbar Jamshidi said, “… Unfortunately the US has always looked at Afghanistan from Pakistan’s glasses.” First Deputy Speaker, Mohammad Alam Ezadyar, urged the government to raise the issue at the UN. The two neighbours alone cannot resolve the differences over the Durand Line, he said.
Presidential deputy spokesman, Siamak Herawi, has said the Afghan government will take a decision together with the people.
