PESHAWAR/LANDI KOTAL: The Afghan businessmen and refugees’ elders on Friday approached Jamaat-i-Islami chief Sirajul Haq to use his influence for the opening of the border recently closed by the Pakistani authorities in the wake of a series of terrorist attacks in the country.

A statement issued here from the party provincial secretariat said the delegation called on Sirajul Haq and requested him to use his good offices to open the border, which was closed after the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine bombing on Feb 16.

The terrorist attack had killed more than 90 people and injured over 300.

After the suicide bomb blast, the government closed all border crossing points with Afghanistan.

The closure of the border not only brought trade between the two countries to a standstill but a large number of Afghan nationals too are stranded in Pakistan.

The statement said Sirajul Haq assured the delegation that he would discuss the issue with the federal government to open the border as soon as possible.

He said Pak-Afghan tensions were causing inconvenience to the people of the two countries.

The JI chief said both countries should find solutions to bilateral problems by dialogue and not extreme steps.

He said Pakistan should open the border with Afghanistan.

“Pakistan and Afghanistan have no option but to normalise relations,” he said.

Mr Siraj told visitors that India always exploited Pak-Afghan tensions and therefore, the leadership of the two countries should not provide such opportunities to the third country.

“Closing border after every terrorist incident does not provide solution to the problems between the countries,” he said, adding that Islamabad and Kabul should take concrete steps to build mutual trust.

The JI chief said the current tensions and border closure had resulted in financial losses for the two countries.

Meanwhile, tribal elders in Khyber Agency have demanded formation of a grand jirga to resolve the issue of border dispute.

Malak Darya Khan Zakhakhel, an elder, said Afghanistan and Pakistan had always resolved their thorny issues through jirgas. He insisted that the grand jirga comprising prominent elders from all the tribal regions be given the authority to negotiate with their Afghan counterparts for effective border management.

He argued that an open border was an essential prerequisite for brotherly relations between the two neighbouring countries. He said it was unfortunate that the border closure was repeatedly used as a diplomatic pressure by both the countries in recent past which was adversely affecting the ordinary citizens of both the countries.

Another elder, Malak Abdur Raziq said frequent border closures could push the tribal youth to extremism rather than curtailing movement of suspect militants and their accomplices. He said a powerful tribal jirga should be set up to negotiate reopening of the border.

Malak Raziq offered his services to approach the Afghan elders for peaceful and prompt resolution of the border issue.

Malak Najeebullah asked the government to authorise a jirga to help negotiate the reopening of the closed border. He said tribal elders had the required knowledge of the issues now confronted by both the countries.

However, the offer for jirga to settle the border dispute was rejected by the Awami National Party, Khyber chapter president Shah Hussain, who said tribal elders had lost their authority and influence.

He said the mainstream political leadership should come forward and open a dialogue with their Afghan counterparts to reopen the border.

He said movement of militants could not be curtailed through closure of borders as suspected elements would not use the designated border crossings to enter Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2017