Shoaib Aziz
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More than being an argument, the following is a timeline of historical facts which no one in Pakistan, Afghanistan or elsewhere can deny. You can connect the dots and come to a conclusion yourself. I hope for young Pakistanis it’ll bring information often neglected by politicians and the mainstream media outlets.
1) 1947: The State of Pakistan is founded. Some Pukhtoon nationalists in Afghanistan thought there was a need to redefine the The Durand Line agreement signed in 1893. For that, different excuses have been invented for different times, for example, recently it was claimed that DLA was for 100 years (neither mentioned in the agreement, nor an international law or norm).
2) 1953: Sardar Daud Khan, a staunch Pukhtoon nationalist and Afghan Army chief becomes Prime Minister of Afghanistan.
3) 1960: On orders of Sardar Daud Afghan forces invaded FATA, declaring it a part of Afghanistan. The situation would have been very serious for Pakistan but people of FATA were committed to Pakistan more than nationalists across the border had guessed, they beat back Afghan forces without Pak Army having to move. Zahir Shah, the King of Afghanistan, was unaware of the decision and admonished Daud for that.
4) 1973: While King Zahir Shah was on a foreign tour, Daud Khan took over the government and declared himself the President of Afghanistan.
Learning from the previous mistake, Daud adopted a different approach this time. Massive Pukhtoon nationalist and Pukhtoonistan propaganda starts via radio channels from across the Durand line to gain acceptance among Pakistani Pukhtoons.
5) 1974: Separatists movement starts in Baluchistan and Pukhtoon nationalists in KPK and Baluchistan gain strength. Both helped from Afghanistan.
6) 1976: Sardar Daud Khan held secular views and came down quite harsh on religious political leaders many of whom went into hiding. PM of Pakistan Z A Bhutto tasks ISI held a meeting in Islamabad with Prof Burhan ud Din Rabbani and Gulbadin Hikmatyar (who were in hiding in Afghanistan). Pakistan supported them with arms. Militants gave Daud’s government some hard time but never proved a big trouble. That was the begging of what would become Pakistan’s Afghan policy, differentiating between friends and foes. It was founded by PM Bhutto and not Gen Zia ul Haq.
7) 1977: Afghanistan adopts new constitution with some reforms akin to a liberal democracy causing considerable anger in Moscow.
8) 1978: USSR triggers a Communists revolution in Afghanistan. Sardar Daud is murdered along with his family in the presidential palace. Communist leader Nur Muhammad Taraki takes control.
9) 1979: Nur Muhammad Taraki is murdered by his fellow communist Hafizullah Amin. Government goes to Hafizullah Amin.
10) 1979: By the year end, Soviets invade Afghanistan, murdered Hafizullah Amin and install Babrak Karmal as the head of government.
11) 1980: The vicious Najibullah Khan becomes the director of KHAD (Afghan intelligence). He was such a hardline atheist that he removed “ullah” from his name (only to add it back after 10 years). He dealt with religious leaders in the most brutal of ways and forced women to remove hijab. I hope you can appreciate what that means in a Pukhtoon society. In one prison alone (Pul-e-Charkhi prison) 30,000 people were murdered, mostly those with religious affiliation.
Till that point Pakistan was not involved. Crisis situation caused millions of Afghans to migrate to Pakistan and that made us a stakeholder in the conflict.
Pakistan was already in contact with Hikmatyar and Prof Rabbani. Fear of Soviets and alliance with USA along with influx of millions of Afghan refugees contributed to what is a now a part of history.
12) 1996: Emergence of Afghan Taliban was after years of civil war among different warlords which rendered Afghanistan completely destroyed. Taliban movement was immensely popular at the beginning and proof of that is the pace at which they gained control over Afghanistan. They might have support from Pakistan, but I ask you, is it possible for an outside country to engineer a militant group that would sweep through an entire country within months and restore stability after decades? Is it possible? Most of Afghanistan fell to Taliban without fighting and popular support was pivotal to their success. I am, in no way, justifying the policies adopted by the Afghan regime later on.
1) 1947: The State of Pakistan is founded. Some Pukhtoon nationalists in Afghanistan thought there was a need to redefine the The Durand Line agreement signed in 1893. For that, different excuses have been invented for different times, for example, recently it was claimed that DLA was for 100 years (neither mentioned in the agreement, nor an international law or norm).
2) 1953: Sardar Daud Khan, a staunch Pukhtoon nationalist and Afghan Army chief becomes Prime Minister of Afghanistan.
3) 1960: On orders of Sardar Daud Afghan forces invaded FATA, declaring it a part of Afghanistan. The situation would have been very serious for Pakistan but people of FATA were committed to Pakistan more than nationalists across the border had guessed, they beat back Afghan forces without Pak Army having to move. Zahir Shah, the King of Afghanistan, was unaware of the decision and admonished Daud for that.
4) 1973: While King Zahir Shah was on a foreign tour, Daud Khan took over the government and declared himself the President of Afghanistan.
Learning from the previous mistake, Daud adopted a different approach this time. Massive Pukhtoon nationalist and Pukhtoonistan propaganda starts via radio channels from across the Durand line to gain acceptance among Pakistani Pukhtoons.
5) 1974: Separatists movement starts in Baluchistan and Pukhtoon nationalists in KPK and Baluchistan gain strength. Both helped from Afghanistan.
6) 1976: Sardar Daud Khan held secular views and came down quite harsh on religious political leaders many of whom went into hiding. PM of Pakistan Z A Bhutto tasks ISI held a meeting in Islamabad with Prof Burhan ud Din Rabbani and Gulbadin Hikmatyar (who were in hiding in Afghanistan). Pakistan supported them with arms. Militants gave Daud’s government some hard time but never proved a big trouble. That was the begging of what would become Pakistan’s Afghan policy, differentiating between friends and foes. It was founded by PM Bhutto and not Gen Zia ul Haq.
7) 1977: Afghanistan adopts new constitution with some reforms akin to a liberal democracy causing considerable anger in Moscow.
8) 1978: USSR triggers a Communists revolution in Afghanistan. Sardar Daud is murdered along with his family in the presidential palace. Communist leader Nur Muhammad Taraki takes control.
9) 1979: Nur Muhammad Taraki is murdered by his fellow communist Hafizullah Amin. Government goes to Hafizullah Amin.
10) 1979: By the year end, Soviets invade Afghanistan, murdered Hafizullah Amin and install Babrak Karmal as the head of government.
11) 1980: The vicious Najibullah Khan becomes the director of KHAD (Afghan intelligence). He was such a hardline atheist that he removed “ullah” from his name (only to add it back after 10 years). He dealt with religious leaders in the most brutal of ways and forced women to remove hijab. I hope you can appreciate what that means in a Pukhtoon society. In one prison alone (Pul-e-Charkhi prison) 30,000 people were murdered, mostly those with religious affiliation.
Till that point Pakistan was not involved. Crisis situation caused millions of Afghans to migrate to Pakistan and that made us a stakeholder in the conflict.
Pakistan was already in contact with Hikmatyar and Prof Rabbani. Fear of Soviets and alliance with USA along with influx of millions of Afghan refugees contributed to what is a now a part of history.
12) 1996: Emergence of Afghan Taliban was after years of civil war among different warlords which rendered Afghanistan completely destroyed. Taliban movement was immensely popular at the beginning and proof of that is the pace at which they gained control over Afghanistan. They might have support from Pakistan, but I ask you, is it possible for an outside country to engineer a militant group that would sweep through an entire country within months and restore stability after decades? Is it possible? Most of Afghanistan fell to Taliban without fighting and popular support was pivotal to their success. I am, in no way, justifying the policies adopted by the Afghan regime later on.
