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Senate Strikes Back At Pedram Over Durand Line Remarks

Members of Meshrano Jirga (senate) on Sunday said that the Durand Line was an imaginary line and recognizing it as an international border will not be acceptable to the people of Afghanistan.
 
The senate’s retaliation comes a day after Abdul Latif Pedram, the leader of the National Congress Party (NCP) said his party recognizes the Durand Line between Afghanistan and Pakistan as an official border and that most of the tension between the two countries is rooted in Kabul’s failure to publicly acknowledge this.
 
Senators argued that it is only Afghanistan that maintains the authority to determine the fate of the Durand Line, calling for a national consensus to raise the issue.
 
“There is not a single Pashton in Pedram’s national congress party - this coward man,” said senator Zalmai Zabuli.
 
“More than 80 million people along the Durand Line have lived under repression for over half a century and they can not raise their voices,” said senator Nadir Baloch.
 
“This has turned into a cancer and everyday it takes victims from us,” said senator Gul Ahmad Azami.
 
Other senators however advocated for a Loya Jirga to be convened to address the issue.
 
“Even the president does not have the authority to recognize the Durand Line, this is supposed to be determined by the nation, a Loya Jirga is needed to be convened,” said senator Farhad Sakhi.
 
“This is not acceptable to the people of Afghanistan, that side of the Durand Line is our own land and it belongs to us, if anyone has any kind of imagination in this respect, it fails and is unacceptable,” said senate speaker Fazel Hadi Muslimyar.
 
The border dispute dates back to the nineteenth century, when Pakistan was part of India and India was a British colony.
 
In a bid to strengthen their control over the northern parts of India, the British imposed the 2,640km borderline on the Amir of Afghanistan in 1893.
 
The agreement was signed between Sir Mortimer Durand, the Indian Foreign Secretary at the time, and Amir Abdur Rahman Khan in Kabul. As such the line is known as the Durand Line.
 
Abdur Rahman Khan’s successor, Amir Habibullah Khan, in 1905 signed a new agreement with Britain confirming the Durand Line.
 
After the founding of Pakistan in 1947, Afghanistan demanded that Pashtuns living on the Pakistani side of the Durand Line be given the right to self-determination but Britain and Pakistan refused.

Senate Strikes Back At Pedram Over Durand Line Remarks

In a bid to strengthen their control over the northern parts of India, the British imposed the 2,640km borderline on the Amir of Afghanistan in 1893.

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Members of Meshrano Jirga (senate) on Sunday said that the Durand Line was an imaginary line and recognizing it as an international border will not be acceptable to the people of Afghanistan.
 
The senate’s retaliation comes a day after Abdul Latif Pedram, the leader of the National Congress Party (NCP) said his party recognizes the Durand Line between Afghanistan and Pakistan as an official border and that most of the tension between the two countries is rooted in Kabul’s failure to publicly acknowledge this.
 
Senators argued that it is only Afghanistan that maintains the authority to determine the fate of the Durand Line, calling for a national consensus to raise the issue.
 
“There is not a single Pashton in Pedram’s national congress party - this coward man,” said senator Zalmai Zabuli.
 
“More than 80 million people along the Durand Line have lived under repression for over half a century and they can not raise their voices,” said senator Nadir Baloch.
 
“This has turned into a cancer and everyday it takes victims from us,” said senator Gul Ahmad Azami.
 
Other senators however advocated for a Loya Jirga to be convened to address the issue.
 
“Even the president does not have the authority to recognize the Durand Line, this is supposed to be determined by the nation, a Loya Jirga is needed to be convened,” said senator Farhad Sakhi.
 
“This is not acceptable to the people of Afghanistan, that side of the Durand Line is our own land and it belongs to us, if anyone has any kind of imagination in this respect, it fails and is unacceptable,” said senate speaker Fazel Hadi Muslimyar.
 
The border dispute dates back to the nineteenth century, when Pakistan was part of India and India was a British colony.
 
In a bid to strengthen their control over the northern parts of India, the British imposed the 2,640km borderline on the Amir of Afghanistan in 1893.
 
The agreement was signed between Sir Mortimer Durand, the Indian Foreign Secretary at the time, and Amir Abdur Rahman Khan in Kabul. As such the line is known as the Durand Line.
 
Abdur Rahman Khan’s successor, Amir Habibullah Khan, in 1905 signed a new agreement with Britain confirming the Durand Line.
 
After the founding of Pakistan in 1947, Afghanistan demanded that Pashtuns living on the Pakistani side of the Durand Line be given the right to self-determination but Britain and Pakistan refused.

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