Durand Line: A British Colonial legacy still haunts Afghanistan, Pakistan
Zee News
The Durand Line has been an issue that has sown distrust between Afghanistan and Pakistan since 1948 and is also a possible flashpoint between Pakistan and the Taliban (that now control Afghanistan).
New Delhi: The Durand Line is the de facto border between Afghanistan and Pakistan that was unilaterally carved out by the British in 1883. Mortimer Durand, the British Diplomat largely responsible for the Durand Line, created the artificial demarcation without any regard for geography, topography, population composition of the region or any other factors that are considered when creating borders.
The British regime at the time completely ignored historical perspective, or the will of the local people and based the Durand Line solely on its geopolitical agenda. As a result, they divided a largely Pashtun dominated region between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Families, relatives and villages that resided in the same region were now suddenly separated by an arbitrarily drawn “border” which has been dubbed the ‘line of hatred’, a cruel trick played on the Pashtun people.
The Durand Line has been an issue that has sown distrust between Afghanistan and Pakistan since 1948 and is also a possible flashpoint between Pakistan and the Taliban (that now control Afghanistan).
