TW: graphic images
The bloody events of the #ChamanSitin were at least 4 months in the making. They were not sudden. They were not unpredictable. This thread explains. Forgive its length. I think it's important to remember. 1/n
The bloody events of the #ChamanSitin were at least 4 months in the making. They were not sudden. They were not unpredictable. This thread explains. Forgive its length. I think it's important to remember. 1/n
What happened: On Thurs, the indiscriminate assault by sec forces on protesters at the Chaman border resulted in the deaths of 4. Another 28 wounded. On the Afghan side, officials say 15 civilians are dead. 2/n
First, about the dead and the wounded. There are few details about the people who were killed and wounded. We do know that the dead include: 1) the mother of these children. 3/n
2) The wife of Jan Alizai, a shopkeeper. #StateAttackedChamanSitln 4/n
3) This young man from Chaman. 5/n
4) At least 13 people with gunshot wounds arrived at the hospital. They range between age 14-40, as this board at the hospital notes. 6/n
4) At least 13 people with gunshot wounds arrived at the hospital. They range between age 14-40, as this board at the hospital notes. 6/n
Now, let's look at the backstory to what happened. The Chaman-Wesh border gate has been closed since March 1st. It opened briefly at moments to allow some commercial traffic, but that was also restricted in new ways. And, for pedestrians, it was basically closed. 7/n
This has been a severe loss to businessmen, traders, and laborers on both sides of the border. Unemployment and poverty worsened. 8/n
Approx 10,000 to 15,000 laborers, traders, drivers and other people used to travel daily from Chaman to Speen Boldak area of Afghanistan. 9/n tnn.com.pk/impasse-contin…
Truck drivers were also affected because of the closure. Many took loans to survive, and there were incidents of theft from trucks. 10/n
The closure also affects families -- remember the British drawn Durand line split kin and family relations along the border. 11/n
The justification for the closure was COVID-19, but we know that the Pakistani (and Afghan) governments play politics at the border. 12/n
By June, Pakistan had resumed international flights and opened other borders, but Chaman remained closed. Traders, businessmen and families who needed to cross the border began protesting hold rallies and organizing a sit-in. 13/n
The protests also fed on prior resentment over broken promises for economic development. 14/n
“In the past also, the authorities have made promises to build factories and markets here...but no promise has even been fulfilled,” President of the Traders’ Union Sardar Abdul Sadiq 15/n voicepk.net/2020/06/18/tho…
The govt met with traders 2 hold talks. Recall tht the govt said the issue was COVID-19. By July, during the talks, Home Minister Mir Ziaullah Langove told them that "terrorism" incidents and smuggling had decreased as a result of the closure. 16/n dawn.com/news/1567273
Langove's comments suggested that rather than an exceptional closure due to the pandemic, the Chaman border gate was likely to suffer more closures. 17/n
Now, we come to this week when the border gate was finally opened for pedestrian traffic for #Eid to allow people and families to gather and celebrate. 18/n
Protesters who had been doing a sit-in were already there. Others also arrived. Maybe they were joining the protest or maybe, more likely, they were just eager to cross and celebrate #Eid with family and friends. People also gathered on the Afghan side of the border. 19/n
After months of a govt-enforced closure, it was predictable that people would be eager to cross. They had been asking, rallying, protesting peacefully for this. And, it was #Eid a holiday to spend with the ones you love not sitting in the heat at a dusty border. 20/n
Instead of managing and preparing for this completely foreseeable situation, the security forces demanded people move away from the gate. The acted with the usual casual neglect. The usual rough and dismissive attitude. 21/n
After months of being subjected to the whims of the state, after being kept from their livelihoods and their families, people were now also being treated with disdain and contempt.
So, the people rioted. They set fire to a quarantine center and attacked a couple of other facilities. It happens. It's just property. 22/n
*It's just property.* Brick and cement. It is replaceable. People are not. But, the security forces do not understand this. So, the Pakistan security forces opened fire, and then the Afghan forces opened fire, and a lot of civilians wound up dead. 23/n
This was a foreseeable and preventable event. But, there will likely be no investigation or accountability. This Chaman assault will also not be in the official history books. These things are linked: The state has no capacity to forsee because it is invested in forgetting. 24/n
Those without a past are without a future. This Twitter thread is a small memory for those who wish to remember. 25/end
