It was almost a classic example of an irresistible force moving an immovable object. No one will allow anything to interfere with his livelihood. No state allows its highways to be blocked. The Chaman protesters probably punched above their weight when they tried to block the local highway to protest the arrest of their leaders. That the law enforcing agencies were bound to clear the road was inevitable, and that they did so with only 40 persons injured on both sides, speaks well of the commanders’ restraint, and it is singularly fortunate that there were no fatalities. The credit for there having been no exchange of fire probably goes to the protesters, though it is hardly much to boast about. The seriousness of the situation can be assessed from the fact that the offices of the DC Chaman were blocked.
Apart from the sanctity of highways, there is also the issue of smuggling. The issue at stake is the new rule that those crossing at Chaman into Afghanistan need a passport and a visa. The old free-and-easy way of allowing crossings on ID cards (issued by either country) is no longer allowed. However, the protesters are not mainly irate tribesmen trying to defend free and easy old ways against the numbing paperwork of the modern bureaucratic state, but carriers of smuggled goods. Chaman is one of the points where goods are smuggled in from both Iran and Afghanistan, through carriers, who do not like the sort of record-keeping that is implied by passports and visas. That the Taliban state has stayed out of the matter so far has prevented a complex situation becoming even more complex, but the Taliban can be trusted to take the smugglers’ side, as theory have done in the past. They have not objected to the fencing of the Durand Line because it prevents the free movement of tribesmen, but because it is a barrier in the path of smugglers.
The issue is not that smuggling must stopped, because it must, as the smugglers must be given alternative employment. Especially at Chaman, smuggling provides the only livelihood for many. Trying to save livelihoods explains both the persistence and volatility of the protesters. The authorities must remember that the prospect of starvation makes people desperate. Unless the authorities find some means of providing people a way of making an honest living, there will continue to be trouble at the border.
