New Delhi
19 May 2006
Maulana Fazlur Rahman says India should use the influence she enjoys over
Afghanistan to bring stability to Pakistan's western border.
"India's role is needed in [Pakistan's] western border," he said in an interview to this
newspaper. He called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday. He has already met
with National Security Adviser MK Narayanan.
Maulana Fazlur Rahman heads the six-party Opposition alliance called the Muttahida
Majlis-i-Amal. His party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, is a constituent of this grouping. He
arrived in India on an unofficial visit on Monday.
"India and Pakistan," he suggests, "should forge a joint cooperative management" to
address issues of interest or concern to both countries but which may lie outside the
state of Jammu and Kashmir, like Afghanistan.
He says attempts should be made by countries including India to bring the Taliban into
the political mainstream because some sections of the Afghan population "feel their
country is not independent yet."
India, he says, should use her good offices to lean on Afghanistan for bringing stability
to the region. He believes a perception of India and Pakistan engaging in proxy war in
Afghanistan and beyond should be removed.
The pro-Taliban cleric, who feels the Durand Line may pose a threat to Pakistan's
security, has been prompted to seek India's involvement at his country's western
borders partly because of domestic fears.
After Afghanistan claimed the 1893 Durand Line Agreement has expired after the lapse of
100 years, the Maulana fears unrest in North West Frontier Province and Balochistan
where his Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party has high stakes.
The newly formed Government of Balochistan In Exile, which is based in Jerusalem, too
challenges the legality of the Durand Line Agreement and maintains that the agreement
is illegal and therefore, it is null and void.
As Islamabad gets isolated by the strengthening of friendship between New Delhi and
Kabul, Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf in September last year called for
building a fence delineating the border.
The Maulana condemns the killings of Indians in Afghanistan and says he would like to
see India and Pakistan accelerate the pace of composite dialogue process and take
more confidence building measures.
On the "Charter of Democracy" agreed upon by Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif in
London, he adds the MMA "will see how it can play a constructive role" when the
proposed elections draw near.
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