Redrawn theoretical map makes Pakistan uneasy, says IHT

According to a story by Jane Perlez in the IHT, dateline November 23, a redrawn map of South Asia that has been making the rounds among Pakistani elites has made a lot of people uneasy. It shows Pakistan more than halved in size though the detachment of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) to Afghanistan, and the creation of an independent Balochistan, which is Pakistan’s largest province.

The cartographic fantasy, which also mutilates several Middle East countries, forms part of a futuristic article by Ralph Peters titled "Blood Borders: How a Better Middle East Would Look." It appears to be an exercise in wishful thinking by some neoconservatives. Originally published in the Armed Forces Journal of the USA, it descends to the level of a schoolboy’s essay where the purpose is to test the writing skills and imagination of the author.

Ordinarily, one would not waste energy in rebutting such arrant nonsense. As the first prime minister of Pakistan Liaquat Ali Khan said almost 60 years ago, the dogs bark but the caravan moves on. The prestigious IHT has highlighted the map, however, so it is necessary to set the record straight insofar as Pakistan is concerned.

First, it is no doubt true that Pakistan is facing a serious security threat in the tribal areas of the North West Frontier Province and some districts in Balochistan, which is the result of international and domestic events. The war in Afghanistan, which has embroiled Pakistan, is the continuation of a 30-year process of foreign military intervention, starting with Soviet military intervention in 1979. That war brought Osama bin Laden to this region in the first place, but one must not forget that Osama is a creation of the unresolved Middle East question, for which the USA bears a historic responsibility. It is not helpful to blame Pakistan for the mess in Afghanistan. In fact the reverse is true: the mess in Afghanistan is largely responsible for Pakistan’s difficulties. The Afghan Taliban, moreover, had nothing to do with the Middle East problem. It was their misfortune, and more important Afghanistan’s, that Mullah Omar refused to deny shelter to Al-Qaeda, even after 9/11, disregarding Pakistan’s advice and warnings that failure to comply with the American demands would lead to the overthrow of the Taliban regime.

Many Pakistanis are understandably worried about the security situation and the suicide bombings in their country. It does not require rocket science to understand that it is in Pakistan’s vital interest to cooperate with NATO in quelling the insurgency along the Pak-Afghan border and also within Pakistan. To win this struggle, addressing the problem of economic and social deprivation and joblessness will be as important as the military dimension.

Similarly, Pakistan has to pay special attention to the needs of the NWFP and Balochistan, which are food deficit areas. Food production in Punjab and Sindh provinces is sufficient to feed all of Pakistan. It is also no secret that for years millions of Afghans have been depending on Pakistan as a source of cheap foodstuff. Paradoxically, apart from the initial steep increase in the international price of energy, and the global recession, the current economic crisis in Pakistan has also been caused by cheaper prices in Pakistan for staples like wheat, rice and cooking oil, as compared to international prices, which are much higher. Smugglers are illegally transporting hundreds of thousands of tons food-grains, edible oils and sugar from Pakistan to neighboring countries, thereby raking in huge profits and causing artificial scarcity, inflation and unrest.

Pakistan’s democratically elected government has to figure out how to secure its frontiers against infiltration by militants in both directions. Equally important, it must speedily put an end to hoarding, food racketeering and the smuggling of foodstuffs. The government must also provide all possible help to the farmers to keep growing sufficient food to meet the needs of its fast growing population.

Any serious student of economic geography can discern that Pakistan has the potential to meet fully the needs of its entire people. The provinces are inextricably interdependent. In a nutshell, Punjab and Sindh form the breadbasket and industrial powerhouse of Pakistan. Balochistan and the NWFP supply energy, minerals, some of the world’s best fruits, livestock and most important, indispensable manpower for all kinds of projects in Punjab and Sindh. Karachi has the largest concentration of Pashtun and Balochi workers in the world. Major infrastructure projects throughout Pakistan rely on Pashtun muscle power.

To sum up, Pakistan has many solid assets on which to base its security, apart from nuclear capability, which was developed precisely to prevent the type of situation that is being proposed in the Armed Forces journal. It is inconceivable that any part of Pakistan would ever like to join chronically food-deficit, landlocked Afghanistan, which is facing terminal problems that are far more serious than Pakistan’s.