Asfandyar Bhittani
PDF THINK TANK: ANALYST
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2017
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Full https://frontierpakistani.wordpress.com/2017/11/12/the-heroes-of-bajaur/
A nation that forgets its heroes will itself soon be forgotten.” 30th President of the United States
Forget heroes & martyrs, here Pakistan has forgotten an entire conflict which stretched on for more than a year & consisted of two major skirmishes. I Am talking about the forgotten Invasions of Bajaur in in 1960 & 61 by Afghanistan
Prelude
Relations between the two states were strained since Pakistan’s formation. Afghanistan voted against Pakistan inclusion in the UNO & refused to respect the sovereignty of the new republic. But these things were not considered to be serious issues by Pakistani leaders back then. They ignored the frustration that was rocketing in Kabul. In 1953 Sardar Daud Khan became Prime minister of Afghanistan. He was the first cousin of Mohammed Zahir Shah, King of Afghanistan.
He brought with him a staunch sub nationalistic policy. Daud wanted Pashtun majority of areas for Afghanistan but this would have meant taking a considerable amount of territory from the new nation of Pakistan. In this decade of Daud, the Pashtunistan propaganda was fierce. From radio shows to stamps to flags to anthems to squared being name after Pashtunistan. This not only irked Pakistan but also made non Pashtuns of Afghanistan nervous because it would have increased the Pashtun’s disproportionate hold on political power in Afghanistan. in a way Daud knew it too that Pashtuns didn’t possess a clear majority to hold onto Kabul forever, & thus since Daud, so called ‘Lar o Bar Afghan’ have been propped up by Afghan Pashtun nationalists for it is their only refuge. This is one of the reason there hasn’t been an ethnic census in Afghanistan since 1979, in which too violence ran amok.
Within two years of Daud rule, in March 1955, Afghans attacked Pakistani missions in across Afghanistan. A mob in Kabul tore down the Sabz Hilali Parcham from Pakistan’s embassy & desecrated it. Pakistan consulates in Kandahar & Jalalabad were ransacked.
Fighting fire with fire, Peshawaris attacked Afghan consulate in Peshawar. Daud refused to take this hint.
Diplomatic relations between the two countries were broken off in 1955 & were not resumed until September 1957. The Afghan King visited Karachi in February 1958, and an agreement on the improvement of transit facilities was signed three months later.
However in late 1959 relations again hit a brick wall when Zahir shah & Sardar Daud gave speeches in which they reaffirmed Afghanistan’s support for the establishment of so called “Pashtunistan”.
By Nov. 23, 1959, things became very fluid. Pakistan recorded protest against unauthorized flights over Pakistani territory by aircraft believed to have come from bases in Afghanistan.
The military balance of power wasn’t like today. In 1960, the Royal Afghan Air Force consisted of about 100 combat air crafts including the famed Russian MiG-15 fighters compared to ~150 Pakistan combat fighters (1965 figure). Other than that RAAF also had Il-28 light bombers, transports, and a few helicopters. Afghan pilots were being trained in US, soviet union & India. Today PAF has 450 combat aircrafts, while the AAF has less than 30 combat aircraft, that too A29 Super Tucanos, a light attack propeller aircraft designed for counter-insurgency. Apart from air force, Pakistan has developed a wide variety of conventional & nuclear tipped missiles which cover far greater area than Afghanistan. Today most of Pakistan fleet is stationed against India but Northern Air Command (Peshawar) has the capability to do more just tackle AAF on its own now. In 1960 entire AAF was pointed at us & the few jets Pakistan had stationed in Peshawar were nowhere enough to combat the AAF on its own.
After the partition of British India in 1947, Bajaur, along with the neighboring princely states of Dir and Swat, entered into a loose accession arrangement with Pakistan but remained practically independent. Nawab Abdul Subhan Khan, Nawab of Khar (Bajaur Agency) continued to rule Bajaur almost autonomously.
As the relations kept spiraling out of control, Afghan Government soon refused to renew visas for Pakistanis living in Afghanistan
Full https://frontierpakistani.wordpress.com/2017/11/12/the-heroes-of-bajaur/
A nation that forgets its heroes will itself soon be forgotten.” 30th President of the United States
Forget heroes & martyrs, here Pakistan has forgotten an entire conflict which stretched on for more than a year & consisted of two major skirmishes. I Am talking about the forgotten Invasions of Bajaur in in 1960 & 61 by Afghanistan
Prelude
Relations between the two states were strained since Pakistan’s formation. Afghanistan voted against Pakistan inclusion in the UNO & refused to respect the sovereignty of the new republic. But these things were not considered to be serious issues by Pakistani leaders back then. They ignored the frustration that was rocketing in Kabul. In 1953 Sardar Daud Khan became Prime minister of Afghanistan. He was the first cousin of Mohammed Zahir Shah, King of Afghanistan.
He brought with him a staunch sub nationalistic policy. Daud wanted Pashtun majority of areas for Afghanistan but this would have meant taking a considerable amount of territory from the new nation of Pakistan. In this decade of Daud, the Pashtunistan propaganda was fierce. From radio shows to stamps to flags to anthems to squared being name after Pashtunistan. This not only irked Pakistan but also made non Pashtuns of Afghanistan nervous because it would have increased the Pashtun’s disproportionate hold on political power in Afghanistan. in a way Daud knew it too that Pashtuns didn’t possess a clear majority to hold onto Kabul forever, & thus since Daud, so called ‘Lar o Bar Afghan’ have been propped up by Afghan Pashtun nationalists for it is their only refuge. This is one of the reason there hasn’t been an ethnic census in Afghanistan since 1979, in which too violence ran amok.
Within two years of Daud rule, in March 1955, Afghans attacked Pakistani missions in across Afghanistan. A mob in Kabul tore down the Sabz Hilali Parcham from Pakistan’s embassy & desecrated it. Pakistan consulates in Kandahar & Jalalabad were ransacked.
Fighting fire with fire, Peshawaris attacked Afghan consulate in Peshawar. Daud refused to take this hint.
Diplomatic relations between the two countries were broken off in 1955 & were not resumed until September 1957. The Afghan King visited Karachi in February 1958, and an agreement on the improvement of transit facilities was signed three months later.
However in late 1959 relations again hit a brick wall when Zahir shah & Sardar Daud gave speeches in which they reaffirmed Afghanistan’s support for the establishment of so called “Pashtunistan”.
By Nov. 23, 1959, things became very fluid. Pakistan recorded protest against unauthorized flights over Pakistani territory by aircraft believed to have come from bases in Afghanistan.
The military balance of power wasn’t like today. In 1960, the Royal Afghan Air Force consisted of about 100 combat air crafts including the famed Russian MiG-15 fighters compared to ~150 Pakistan combat fighters (1965 figure). Other than that RAAF also had Il-28 light bombers, transports, and a few helicopters. Afghan pilots were being trained in US, soviet union & India. Today PAF has 450 combat aircrafts, while the AAF has less than 30 combat aircraft, that too A29 Super Tucanos, a light attack propeller aircraft designed for counter-insurgency. Apart from air force, Pakistan has developed a wide variety of conventional & nuclear tipped missiles which cover far greater area than Afghanistan. Today most of Pakistan fleet is stationed against India but Northern Air Command (Peshawar) has the capability to do more just tackle AAF on its own now. In 1960 entire AAF was pointed at us & the few jets Pakistan had stationed in Peshawar were nowhere enough to combat the AAF on its own.
After the partition of British India in 1947, Bajaur, along with the neighboring princely states of Dir and Swat, entered into a loose accession arrangement with Pakistan but remained practically independent. Nawab Abdul Subhan Khan, Nawab of Khar (Bajaur Agency) continued to rule Bajaur almost autonomously.
As the relations kept spiraling out of control, Afghan Government soon refused to renew visas for Pakistanis living in Afghanistan
Full https://frontierpakistani.wordpress.com/2017/11/12/the-heroes-of-bajaur/
