The Durand Line - Ananta Aspen Centre

34 Pages·2011·0.96 MB·English

ASPENINSTTUTEINDIA
The
Durand
Line
Policy Paper
SATINDER KUMAR LAMBAH
N 4
õ

The
Durand
Line
SATINDER KUMAR LAMBAH
ASPENINSTTUTEINDIA
2P,SECTOR31,GURGAON–122001(HARYANA)
THEDURANDLINE|LAMBAH
Foreword
A
spenInstituteIndia(AII)promotesvalues-basedleadership,opendialogue
andcross-sectoroutreachbyengagingthecivilsociety,government,private
sector,andotherkeystakeholdersonissuesrelatedtoIndia'sdevelopment.
Itinvitesindustrial,economic,financial,political,socialandculturalleaderstodis-
cuss these issues in settings that encourage frank and open dialogue. The Institute
focusesonthemostimportantproblemsandchallengesfacingsociety,thebusinesscom-
munityandtheindividualinIndia.
TheAspenInstituteIndiaorganizesfivetypesofprogrammes:
» OutreachSeminars
» PolicySeminars
» LeadershipSeminars
» IdeasIndia
» StrategicDialogues(incooperationwithCII)
Whileeachisdistinctivewithauniquesetofgoals,theyallsharetheultimateaimof
promotingawareness,dialogue,andactiononissuesessentialforajustandprosperous
Indiansociety.
AspenInstituteIndia(AII)initsendeavortocreatepublicawarenessandpromoteideas
andpoliciesthatwillenhanceIndia’sgrowthinthefuture,isstartingaseriesofPolicy
PaperswhichwillfocusonthevariousissuesrelatedtoIndia’sdevelopmentandstrate-
gicinterests.Thispaperisthefourthintheseries.
| September2011
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Theopinionsexpressedinthispublicationaretheauthors’ownanddonotreflecttheviewsofAspen
InstituteIndia |Thispublicationisintendedforprivatecirculationonly| Copyright © Aspen Insti-
tuteIndia 2011 | PublishedinNewDelhi
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Contents
I Introduction..............................................................................................04
II BriefSketchoftheDurands....................................................................04
III LandscapeoftheAreaanditsInhabitants,thePashtuns....................05
IV PressuresontheAmir..............................................................................07
V DurandAgreement..................................................................................08
VI IssuesinDelimitationandDemarcationofthe‘FrontierLine’..........10
VII Conversionof‘FrontierLine’of1893to‘Frontier’in1919...................13
VIII Pakistan’sPositionontheDurandLine.................................................15
IX Afghanistan’sPositionontheDurandLine..........................................18
X Pak-AfghanRelations..............................................................................22
XI IndianStandontheDurandLine...........................................................24
XII SummingUp.............................................................................................25
Annexure-I:TextoftheAgreement..........................................................................27
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Introduction
I.
Inanattempttosecureordepictbordersorfrontiersseverallinesweretobe
drawninIndiaandelsewhereduringtheperiodoftheBritishEmpire.Thesewere
toincludetheDurandLine(1893)thatwastorepresentthelimitsoftherespec-
tive spheres of influence of British India and Afghanistan in the Pakhtun belt;
theJohnson-ArdaghLine(1895)whichwastoformthebasisfordefiningthebor-
derofLadakh,aterritorybelongingtothethenIndianprincelystateofKashmir,
withTibetandSinkiang;thesocalledMcCartney-MacDonaldLine(1899)that
wastoformpartofaproposalfortheKashmir-LadakhborderwithSinkiangand
Tibet;theMcMahonLine(1914)betweenTibetandIndiaintheeasternsector;
and the Radcliffe Award/Line (1947) dividing British administered India only
(excluding the princely states comprising one-third of undivided India, which
weretechnicallytobecomeindependent,withthelapsingofparamountcy)into
IndiaandPakistan.
(cid:2)(cid:2)(cid:2)
Brief Sketch of the Durands
II.
SirHenryMortimerDurand,IndianCivilService,sonofMajGenHenryMarion
DurandwasbornatSehore,whenthelatterwasservingaspoliticalagentatBhopal.
SirMortimerDurandwasPoliticalSecretarytoGeneralRobertsduringtheSecond
AfghanWar,1879.WhileservingasForeignSecretarytotheGovernmentofIndia
(1884-1894),inthefootstepsofhisfatherwhohadearlierheldthatpost(1861-65),
hewasdeputedin1893asheadofadelegationtoKabul,whosetwin-aimswereto
persuadetheAfghanstorelinquishtheirclaimstothetrans-OxusareaofRoshan
andShignan,alsoclaimedbyRussiaunderthe1872-73Anglo-Russianagreement,
inreturnfortheWakhanstripthatwastoseparatetheIndianprincelystateofKash-
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mir from Russian territories. Alongside, Durand was to obtain an agreement to
split the Pakhtun belt into respective spheres of influence of British India and
Afghanistan.Hisfather,SirHenryDurand,wholaterwhenhebecametheLt.Gov-
ernorofPunjab,succumbedtosevereinjuriesasaresultofafallfromanelephant
duringaprocessioninTonkonJanuary1,1871.HisgraveinDeraIsmailKhanisat
timesmistakenforthatofhissons’.1Therearegoodreasonsforthisconfusionasthe
son’shistoricalassociationwiththeareahadbeenensuredforposteritybyvirtueof
thenamethathelenttotheLine.Theconfusionaboutthegravehasalsocarriedto
theLineforoveracentury.
(cid:2)(cid:2)(cid:2)
Landscape of the Area and its
Inhabiants,The Pashtuns
III.
TheareainrespectofwhichnegotiationsbetweentheAmirandMortimerDurand
tookplacehasforlongbeeninhabitedbythePakhtuns.TheancientGreekhistorian,
Herodotus,referredtothelandtheyoccupied(betweentheOxusandIndusrivers)as
Pakhtia.ThelateProf.A.H.Dani,awell-knownPakistanihistorianandarchaeolo-
gist, wrote that closer to our time the term ‘Pakhtunkhwa’ has been occurring in
Pushto literature since the 15th century. It has appeared in numerous writings,
includingthoseduringthereignofEmperorShahabuddinGhauri,andmorerecently
inpoemscomposedbyAkhundDarwazeh(d.1838)andAhmadShahAbdali.
Thelandscapeofthearea(presentdaysoutheasternAfghanistanandnorthwest-
ernPakistanwhichtogethercomprisePakhtunterritory)ismostlyaridandsemi-arid
highlands.Themountainswhichattimesattainaheightof7000fthaveinplacesbas-
insandvalleyswheresomesettlementsaretobefound.Hardlyanyroadshavebeen
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1http://familytree.henrysalt.co.uk/post/2/sir-henry-marion-durand
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builthere.Therearevaryingstatisticsaboutthepopulationofthearea.2Thisarea
includestheseventribalagenciesofthecurrentFederallyAdministeredTribalAreas
(FATA) – Khyber, Bajour, Mohamand, Orakzai, Kurram, North & SouthWazir-
istan. Also a part of FATA are the six frontier regions and the districts of Bannu,
KohatandDeraIsmailKhan.Tribesonbothsidesofthefrontierinter-marry,trade,
quarrel,mournandentertaineachother.Therehasnotbeenmuchchangeinthesys-
temoftheirgovernance.AfghanistanistheheartlandofthePakhtunbelt.Theareas
aroundKandhar,GhazniandHerataremorefertileandarethetraditionalhomeof
both,theDurraniswhocomprisetheerstwhileroyalfamilyofAfghanistan,andthe
othermajortribalgrouping,theGhilzais.ThePakhtuntribesontheBritishIndian
side(inareaswrestedfromAfghanistanasalsoincludingthenorthwesternbeltof
erstwhilePunjab)suchastheWaziris,AfridisandtheKhattaksareconsidered“even
more fiercely independent and uncompromisingly Muslim (perhaps implying religious)
than the lowlanders.”3ThePashtunwali,thePakhtuncodeofhonour,isconsidered
verysignificantwithitsconceptsofRevenge,Hospitality,SanctuaryandHonour.
(cid:2)(cid:2)(cid:2)
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2TherehasneverbeenaccuratepopulationstatisticsofthePashtunareas,butitisreasonablysafetosay
thatnow“thereareatleast35millionPashtunslivinginthetwocountries.Pashtunshavebeensaidto
compriseanestimated42%ofthepopulationofAfghanistan,which,ataround11.8million,makesthem
thelargestsingleethnicgroupinthecountry.InPakistan,Pashtunshavebeensaidtocompriseanesti-
mated15%ofthepopulation,which,ataround26.2million,makesthemthesecondlargestethnicgroup
inthecountry”,asquotedinResearchPaper10/45,22June2010oftheHouseofCommonsLibrary,
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/publisher,UKHCL,,,4c21c6062,0.html(p.6)
3Ibid.(p.13)
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Pressures onThe Amir
IV.
Abdur Rahman Khan, a survivor of fratricidal wars and a grandson of Dost
Mohammed, who was a Russian pensioner for eleven years in Samarkand, being
kept in reserve, crossed into Afghanistan in January 1880 as a claimant to the
throne.OntakingoverasAmirwithBritishassistanceinJuly1880hewasinsistent
onnothavingaBritishResidentinKabul,whileacceptingtheotherconditionsof
theTreatyofGundamak(1879).YakubAli,sonofSherAli,whohadfledonhear-
ingthenewsofthedeclarationoftheSecondAfghanWar(1878),washispredeces-
sor,albeitasitweretosounfold,aninterimone.Hehadalreadyexpressedadesire
toabdicateonhearingofthedispatchofLordRobert’sarmyofretribution(1879)
andtherecouldbelittledoubtastotheextentofcompulsionhewastobeplaced
underwhilesigningthetreaty.Bythistreaty,controloftheKhyberPassandthe
borderdistrictsofKurram,PishinandSibiwaswrestedfromtheAfghans.How-
ever, to sweeten the blow, an annual subsidy of `6,00,000 (then £ 60,000) was
granted,whichwastobelaterdoubledin1893tosweetenanotherblowthatwasto
beimposedbytheDurandAgreement.4
By1888,AbdurRahmanhadmanagedtoreclaimKandharandHeratwiththeir
surrounding areas, which had earlier been severed from Kabul as a part of Lord
Lyotton’splantocarvethemintoseparatestates,inordertomakeitmoredifficult
fortheRussiansoranyotherpotentialaggressortooccupyAfghanistan.Alongside,
hehadtocrushtwomajorrebellions,intheprocesskillingmanypoliticalopponents.
Meanwhile,theRussianshadtakenPandjehin1885bringingthemwithinafewdays
marchfromHerat,consideredthegatewaytoIndia,fromwheretheroutetoKandhar
isafairlystraightoneandcrossingthereaftertheBolenPassthathadnotposedmuch
difficultyforpreviousinvaders.Asdiplomacywonandwarwasaverted,Afghani-
stan’scentralnorthernboundarywaslaiddownfromKhawjaSalareastwardtoLake
Zorkul, jointly by the Anglo Russian Afghan Boundary Commission (1885-87),
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4Meyer,KarlandShareenBrysac,1999.‘TournamentofShadows:TheGreatGameandtheRacefor
EmpireinAsia’,2001ed.publishedbyLittle,Brown&Companyreferred(p.197).
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whosedelimitationhadtobevirtuallythrustontheAmir.
RegularraidsbythehillPakhtunsonthesettledlowlandareasduringthegreater
partofthe19thcentury,especiallyduringthelatterhalf,posedaproblemfortheBrit-
ishwiththeannexationofthePunjabin1849,bringingtheirfrontiertothefoothills.
Attemptstobuy/purchase/bribethehilltribesintocooperationorpacificationand
evenretaliatorymilitaryactiondidnotproducethedesiredresults.Itisnotforthis
reason alone that the British were exercising their thoughts on where the British
Indian north-western frontier ought to lie. Forward school players were almost
emphatic in their asking for the so-called scientific frontier, upto the line joining
Kandhar,GhazniandKabul.Therewerethenthosewhohadarguedthatthephysical
frontieronthissectorlayalongtheIndus.ItwasinthisbackgroundthatMortimer
Durand had been deputed to Kabul for obtaining territorial concessions in the
Pakhtunbelt.Durandwastocarrywithhimaroughsketchoftheareawithaline
drawnonitthatwouldturnouttobeacompromisebetweenthetwoextremeposi-
tions espoused.There can be little doubt that at the time of receiving Durand in
Kabul,theAmirwashighlysusceptibletopressures.
(cid:2)(cid:2)(cid:2)
Durand Agreement
V.
In November, 1893, Abdur Rahman Khan and Mortimer Durand entered into an
agreementcomprisingsevenshortarticleswhichcreatedtheDurandLine.ThisLine
whichwasmarkedonasmallscalemapofthePakhtunareasissomewhatdescribedin
article(five).Itspurposewastolaydownthelimitsoftherespectivesphereofinflu-
enceofAfghanistanandBritishIndia.
AnexaminationofthetextoftheAgreement(referAnnexure-1)reveals:
I)ThatinsteadofreferringtothetwocontractingpartiestotheAgreementas“Gov-
ernments”or“states”,everywhereinthetextonesideorpartyhasbeenreferredtoas
“HisHighnesstheAmir”or“HisHighness”orthe“Amir”whereastheothersideor
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