Pakistan’s generous and
kind-hearted approach towards Afghanistan as well as its Afghan brethren has
been recognized worldwide. But ironically enough, the world has not done enough
to help Pakistan come out of the refugees’ burden. Instead Pakistan has suffered
the most because of housing the Afghan refugees. Now after four decades of the
Afghan war, these refugees have not gone back to their country, which has made
Pakistan’s security a complex.
Many say Pakistan deliberately poked its nose in the Afghan War without any
reason, only in line with its loyalty to the United States of America. The USSR
had a grand plan to reach warm waters, which its Cold War rival, USA, wanted to
thwart out. Before Pakistan going to be sandwiched, the Reds could have meted
out similar treatment with Pakistan which they were doing in Afghanistan. The
Afghan mujahideen offered stiff resistance because of the complex rugged
mountainous terrains. Had there been a terrain like that of Pakistan, resistance
could have been difficult. So it was not only the war for the USA, but was the
question of Pakistan’s survival too. Blocking the Russians on Afghanistan’s
territory demanded wisdom, besides, according to Allama Iqbal’s vision of love
and affection, Pakistani people were greatly pained over the miseries of their
war-battered Afghan brethren.
However, while laying down the contours of this war, Pakistani strategists might
have made some serious mistakes, like that of handling the Afghan refugees. But
many of the steps taken were under unavoidable circumstances and out of sheer
love for the Afghan brethren who were forced to take refuge in Pakistan. They
were no less than five million in total. The people of Pakistan were generous
enough to have wide opened their doors, share their homes and premises to
accommodate the Afghan families. They not only shared their own bread, but also
businesses, which affected the hosts with the passage of time. Such a sheer love
carried with it more curse than benefits. With the refugees came the enemy
agents and those who had been doing illegal trades of drugs, opium and
smuggling. The refugees introduced the so-called Kalashnikov culture, which has
damaged the fabric of Pakistani society.
Ever since the Cold War, the Afghan War, the Taliban or the post-Taliban eras,
Pakistan has been playing pivotal role, directly or indirectly, towards
resolving the Afghan imbroglio. Pakistan hosted the five million refugees; it is
continuously hosting over three million Afghan refugees, who after three to four
decades, have now been integrated into Pakistani societies as well as all kind
of business activity. Islamabad brokered and conducted a number of peace summits
inside and outside the country. It is a clear sign of commitment and sincerity
that Pakistan exhibited during the last four or five decades. In return Pakistan
has sustained serious implications, both regionally and globally. It is now
facing discouraging blame game on part of the Kabul government.
The fact remains that Pakistan’s generous accommodation of more than three
million Afghan refugees for the longest duration is the example of Pakistan’s
contribution towards bringing peace in the region. Obviously this has had
consequences: Pakistan has gone financially weak and culturally fragmented. It
is continuously facing the simmering security situations. Pakistan army’s around
200,000 troops have been engaged in guarding the western borders, undertake
military operations and maintain law, order situations within various parts of
the country. The country has suffered huge losses in terms of men and material,
infrastructure and property.
As a policy Pakistan desires a peaceful, prosperous and progressing Afghanistan,
and considers it as essential to economic and overall development of Pakistan.
This desire for peace in Afghanistan has continuously been demonstrated by
successive governments, military leaderships as well as the people of Pakistan
at all levels. Hence it is absurd to propagate that Pakistan in not interested
in peace returning to Afghanistan. Vested interests and intriguing propaganda
may tell a different story but the statistics do not tell a lie. Pakistan is
undoubtedly the biggest Muslim donor country which is contributing generously to
financing the socioeconomic uplift of Afghanistan. Pakistan has so far spent
over $385 million for development, education and infrastructure building in
Afghanistan. Nawaz Sharif’s government has added the huge over $500 million more
to this list.
Afghan citizens are allowed to avail medical, education, business and other
social service in Pakistan, not as an alien or immigrant, but at par with the
Pakistani citizens. Over 35,000 Afghans have graduated from various Pakistani
universities and colleges during the last many years. Today they form the
backbone of state and non state owned services of Afghanistan. At present over
50,000 Afghan students are enrolled in various Pakistani schools, colleges and
universities. Pakistan has funded different educational institutions inside
Afghanistan such as Allama Iqbal Faculty of Arts – Kabul University, Sir Syed
Post Graduate Faculty of Sciences – Nangarhar University, Liaquat Ali Khan
Engineering University – Bulkh, Rehman Baba School – Kabul, and Reshma Baba
Hostel – Kabul.
Pakistan has helped the Afghan governments in developmental projects and in
building roads infrastructure, including the 75km-long Torkham-Jalalabad Road,
additional carriage was on Torkham-Jalalabad, three internal roads in Jalalabad,
digital radio link between Kabul and Peshawar. In addition, Pakistan has also
given around 100 public transport buses and 200 trucks to the Government of
Afghanistan for the welfare of Afghan public.
Pakistan’s bonhomie with the Afghan people is not new, neither reciprocal. The
return is highly discouraging and disparaging. The people of Afghanistan might
have never lost their trust because they are direct beneficiaries, however, the
very few ratio of the Afghan population, especially those including Northern
Alliance or people residing in the northern part of Afghanistan have developed a
planted grudge against Pakistan, since the time of Ahmed Shah Massoud.
They are the people who are mostly dominating the sitting government in Kabul,
who are being instigated and intrigued by the strong Indian lobby present in
Afghanistan. Earlier Hamid Karzai had been spitting venom against Pakistan, and
now President Ashraf Ghani is singing at the tune of Indians. The propaganda is
so serious and coordinated that the Pakistanis visiting the Afghan capital feel
the heat and hatred directly. Somebody has to stop it. Pakistan’s various
measures are a proof enough to its resolve for solving the long pending
imbroglio without interference from any foreign country, but this fact is not
being recognized and reciprocated from the Afghan side. Better sense must
prevail.