Certain tribes are likely to face restrictions on their movement across the Pak-Afghan frontier if the government goes ahead with its plan to fence and mine the border. According to political observers, only those tribes with close relatives on both sides of the border will continue to be allowed to interact with each other for commercial and social purposes under the ‘easement rights’ clause of the Durand Line agreement of 1893. Tribes without close relations on the other side may find their movements restricted. Political historians and observers point out that the Achakzais of Quetta, the Waziris of Waziristan, the Toris and Mengals of Parachinar, the Shinwaris of Khyber, and the Mohmands of Mohmand Agency have cousins still living in Afghanistan. Except for the Afridis and Mehsuds, almost all Afghan tribes have kith and kin in Pakistan. People belonging to tribes with close relations on both sides but who have settled outside FATA could find themselves restricted as the political agents and maliks of their ancestral areas might not be able to facilitate their free movement across the border under the new situation. The Achakzais living outside the tribal areas, many of them in Balochistan, could be denied entry to Afghanistan. Achakzai tribesmen living in Afghanistan could also be subject to a similar restriction.
Observers said that Afghanistan’s opposition to Pakistan’s move to fence and mine the border – most of it is currently not demarcated or monitored - at selective points was not likely to force Islamabad to rescind its decision. The Durand Line has not been recognised as an international border by any Afghan government and the current Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, is a Pushtoon and unlikely to want to earn the ignominy of dividing the Pushtoon on both sides of the border. But Kabul’s concerns and considerations are of little import to Islamabad, which was left with no other option but to take measures aimed at discouraging militants freely crossing the border from both sides. These measures will have positive results in both the short and long terms, according to the observers.
Mass migration of Powindas from Afghanistan, particularly in the 1940s, to FATA and NWFP greatly strained the food supply, particularly in the provinceÂ’s settled areas. The fence is also ostensibly aimed at discouraging a mass influx of Powindas.