Visa-free travel between Pakistan, Afghanistan sought

PESHAWAR, April 30: The participants of World Pashto Peace Conference here on Saturday called upon the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan to make travelling between the two countries convenient by ending visa condition and setting up only four registration points on the border. Through a unanimously adopted resolution, they demanded that instead of visa, only the names of travellers should be registered at the said four points to be established by both the governments. The participants of the concluding session of the two-day conference, organised by World Pashto Congress at Nishtar Hall, also asked the neighbouring countries to immediately stop interference in Afghanistan and make sincere efforts for its development. "The neighbouring countries should treat Afghanistan as an independent and sovereign state and abandon pitting its people against each other," they demanded. They also demanded pulling out of international forces from Afghanistan. A joint commission of Pakistan and Afghanistan should be established ascertain causes of terrorism and make efforts for restoration of peace in the region, the participants added. They also demanded of the government to extend the Political Parties Order 2002 to Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Earlier, gloomy silence prevailed in the hall when Noora Jan, a young poet from Afghanistan, presented his poem about devastation of war and its impact on the lives of people. "Don't be silent spectators to funerals of Pakhtuns, rather take practical steps, understand the political scenario and decide about your own future," he conveyed his message through his poetry. The acting vice-chancellor of Kohat University, Dr Nasir Jamal said that under a conspiracy, traditional games of Pakhtuns had been diminished to pave the way for imposition of Arab culture. "Religion and culture are two different things," he added. He said that according to history Pakhtuns were peace loving nation but a myth was created that weapon was an ornament of Pakhtun youth that was totally wrong. The chairman of International Relations department, University of Peshawar, Dr Ijaz Khattak said that international forces turned Pakhtun's land into a battlefield for their vested interests. Unaware of its nature, the youth of the region played pivotal role in the war of others, he said. He suggested that a movement for peace of all political parties and civil society should be launched to inform masses regarding the real players of the continued war against terrorism. Chief of his own fiction PPP Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said that terrorism badly affected economy and culture of Pakhtuns. He urged the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan to end mistrust and take practical steps for restoration of peace. He said that two brotherly countries should develop contacts on different levels. He said that Nato stayed in Afghanistan for more then a decade but it failed to control the country, which proved the war was not solution to problems. Restoration of peace was not sufficient rather efforts should be made to develop the war affected areas, he said. All the political parties and civil society of the both countries should sit together and evolve a joint plan of revival of economic and social development, he said. He added that under the plan, international donors should be urged to help them implement the development plan. "Gone are the days when a country used to be captured by force," said Aimal Khattak, an expert on Pak-Afghan relations. He demanded of different countries to stop interference in Afghanistan to restore peace there. "Pakistan has done nothing to improve its image in Afghanistan rather it safeguarded its interest through people having guns," he added. On the other side, he said, Iran and India launched many development schemes to gain sympathies of Afghans. The Pakistani establishment should reframe its policy and stop supporting some fictions of militants, he said, adding most of Taliban had got their training in Mansehra.