Closure of Pak-Afghan Border

Weakens the Muslims before India

News:

On March 7, 2017, Minister for Defence, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, said thatPak-Afghan border was rightfully closed. ‘We are committed to take every step to defend our country’, he remarked. Asif said that “terrorists” were operating from Afghanistan and it was obligatory to ensure the safety of the people.

Comment:

After a suicide bombing at a shrine in Pakistan’s Sindh Province on 16^th February 2017, which killed more than 80 people, the regime shut its borders with Afghanistan, saying the criminals behind the attack had sanctuaries in the country. Closure of the border caused severe hardship both for the Muslims of Afghanistan and Pakistan, as every day thousands of people cross the border for business, social, medical and educational purposes from both sides. Afghanistan suffers the most as it is landlocked country and Pakistan is the closest and cheapest gateway to reach the rest of the world. Within a few days, thousands of people stranded on both sides of the border pleaded with the Pakistani regime to open the border. The situation became so ugly that the Afghan Ambassador in Islamabad, Omar Zakhilwal, on 4^th March 2017 said that he will urge his government to arrange special flights to airlift Afghan nationals stranded in Pakistan, if the country did not reopen the border within two days.Pakistan re-opened border on 7^th March 2017 for two days, during which people with a valid visa were allowed to cross the border, but by foot only. Almost thirty five thousand people crossed the border in these two days and it was closed again on 9^th March 2017.

The Pakistani regime claims the closure of the border, in the name of border management with Afghanistan, is the essential measure to stop “terrorists” entering Pakistan from Afghan soil. However, one national assembly member mocked this ridiculous claim by saying that if this is how regime thinks  “terrorism” will end, then it must close Wagha check post at the Pakistan-India border as well, as the regime claims that India supports terrorist activities inside Pakistan. Today, the rulers of Muslims are tough on Muslims and gentle before enemies, even though Allah (swt) said, )مُّحَمَّدٌ رَّسُولُ اللَّهِ ۚ وَالَّذِينَ مَعَهُ أَشِدَّاءُ عَلَى الْكُفَّارِ رُحَمَاءُ بَيْنَهُمْ( "Muhammad RasulAllah and those with him are forceful against the Kuffar and merciful to each other." [Surah Al Fath 48: 29].

Consider also that during the Afghan Jihad against Soviet Union, almost three million Afghan Muslims entered Pakistan. At that time, the Soviet Union backed the Afghan regime and India was not able to dispatch so many “terrorists” to create havoc throughout Pakistan. However, now when there are US military forces and a US puppet Afghan regime in place in Afghanistan, whilst the US is supposedly an ally of Pakistan, endless waves of “terrorists” enter Pakistan! Indeed, the regime's claim is ridiculous because it knows well that the cause for the chaos in Pakistan is the US presence in the region. It is the head of the snake of instability in Pakistan. The US's Raymond Davis spy network funds and arranges the attacks, yet the regime does nothing about it. The US allows India to maintain a substantial presence with Afghanistan which it is uses to launch attacks on Pakistan. Yet, the regime maintains an alliance with the US and offers the olive branch of normalization to India despite its unrelenting aggression.

Moreover, in an unfortunate era where Muslim Lands are divided by borders, check posts allow common people from both sides to cross borders, with proper security checking. Closure of these check posts only creates hardship for the Muslims living on both sides. Yet,  the regime continues this policy because it aims to create animosity between Pakistan and Afghanistan. This only benefits India in the region, because it divides the Muslims, whereas Islam demands that the Muslims are unified as one state with one leader, as one hand against the enemy.

The Pak-Afghan border is a perfect example of how borders created by the colonialists have divided one Ummah resulting in severe hardship for Muslims living on both sides of it. The miseries of the Muslims of this region and all of Muslim Lands can only be ended by restoring the Khilafah "Caliphate" (Caliphate) on the Method of the Prophethood, which will erase colonialist borders. It will enable Muslims to freely move in between Muslim Lands, enhancing economic, educational, medical and other opportunities, making the Khilafah "Caliphate" a strong state internally.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by

Shahzad Shaikh

Deputy to the official Spokesman of Hizb ut Tahrir in Wilayah Pakistan