People hold protest in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa demanding reopening of Torkham border

Islamabad, Jan 5 People held a protest in the Landi Kotal area of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to demand an immediate reopening of the Torkham border, local media reported on Monday.

Traders, transporters, tribal elders, daily wagers, activists of political parties and civil society were part of the protest held on Sunday under the banner of All Borders Coordinators Council.

Representatives from various organisations and groups, who were directly impacted by the border shutdown with Afghanistan since October 12, participated in the protest, Pakistan's leading daily Dawn reported.

While addressing the protesters, the speakers said that the border closure has caused economic murder of thousands of people, the majority of them being tribesmen, as they were fully reliant on the cross-border trade.

They called the Torkham border an important business gateway to Central Asia and said that the border crossing served as an economic hub for thousands of families, as their livelihoods were linked to it.

According to them, all commercial activities have stopped in the town due to the border closure.

The speakers said that hundreds of families faced extreme poverty and economic problems due to border closure, with many of them forced to take loans for their survival.

They urged Afghanistan and Pakistan not to relate bilateral trade to political and security issues and to allow people to travel frequently on both sides of the border.

"We also demand that influential tribal elders and trade representatives shall be made part of future Pak-Afghan peace and trade dialogue as they have always helped resolve thorny issues between the two countries in the past," they said.

In December last year, it was reported that daily-wage workers and porters in Pakistan were facing financial problems due to the continued closure of the Torkham border, as they had lost their part-time jobs.

The majority of these labourers are looking for jobs in Punjab and Sindh, while others have borrowed money from relatives and friends to manage their daily expenses. They have even stopped sending children to schools as they do not have money to pay fees, local media reported.

Reportedly, some jobless daily-wagers and porters have started taking drugs as they are facing mental stress.

Speaking to Dawn, Mansoor Ali stated that he abandoned his FSc computer science course midway due to poverty and started carrying the luggage of Afghan and Pakistani nationals between the border point and the taxi stand for little money.

Torkham Labourers and Porters Association leader Ali Shinwari expressed fear that the young jobless labourers could join proscribed terrorist groups, which want to exploit the distressing conditions of such frustrated youth.

"We also fear that some young tribesmen will be employed as drug peddlers as narcotics dealers offer them good wages," he said.

In October last year, Pakistan shut all trade routes with Afghanistan after Pakistani forces conducted attacks near the Durand Line. In response to Pakistan's attacks, Afghan forces also carried out attacks.

After the closure of the trade route, Afghanistan's Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar Akhund, urged industrialists and traders to use alternative trade routes instead of Pakistan.

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