Showing posts with label Khyber Pass. Show all posts
Arrested
tree at Landi Kotal
“I
AM UNDER ARREST”
In 1898, A British army officer James Squid in a
state of drunkenness feel an old banyan tree lurch towards him. He ordered mess
Havaldar to arrest the tree immediately. Presently, it is Khyber Rifles
Officers Mess; at Landikotal in Khyber Agency (FATA), at historic Khyber Pass, Pakistan. To this day, it stands
fettered and forlorn, with a board hanging on it that reads: “I am under
arrest.”
The
tree is still under arrest after all these years in remembrance of the British
invasion of the sub continent.
Historic
Khyber Pass, has witnessed the jostle of multiple empires as they fought for
the remote, rich expanses of the Hindukush. Harsh socio-political imprints left
behind by Alexander, Genghis Khan, and Amir Timur. All they came here from
north side. Sikhs also came here and establish their state, they came from
Lahore. After all British are dispersed throughout the craggy defiles and they
came from south in this area.
Now,
these tribal areas are trapped in the midst of another vortex, the ‘war on
terror.’
Tag :// Army,
Tag :// Arrested,
Tag :// British,
Tag :// FATA,
Tag :// Khyber Pass,
Tag :// Landi Kotal,
Tag :// tree
Check post at Torkham Border
PAK-Afghan Border
Torkham (Tūrkham) is one of the major
border crossings between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Torkham is 5 kilometers (3.1
mi) west of the summit of the Khyber Pass. The location has been used
throughout history by Afghan and Turkic caravans, including marching armies of
powerful empires. Most of these were on their way to Northern India, passing
through Peshawar and then Lahore. Some of the well known regional historical
figures who are believed to have passed through Khyber Pass are Chandragupta
Maurya, Hsüan-tsang, Jayapala, Al-Biruni, Ibn Battuta, Babur, Humayun, Nader
Shah, Ahmad Shah Durrani, Zaman Shah Durrani, Dost Mohammad Khan, and Akbar
Khan along with Subhas Chandra Bose and Dr. Mohammad Iqbal Shedai (Freedom
fighters; Azad Hindustan).
It connects Pakistan's Federally Administered
Tribal Areas (FATA) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with Nangarhar province of
Afghanistan. It is the busiest point of entry between the two countries,
serving as a major transporting, shipping, and receiving site. Transported
goods arrive to Tokham from the port city of Karachi in Sindh province (Pakistan).
On the Pakistani side, the border
crossing is at the end of the N-5 National Highway, which connects it to
Peshawar in the east and further connects it to Islamabad by other routes. On
the Afghani side, Highway 7 connects Torkham to Kabul through Jalalabad.
The Pakistan's Frontier Corps and Afghan
Border Police are the main agencies for controlling Torkham border. They are
backed by the Pakistani and Afghan Armed Forces.
Presently, there is also some presence
of NATO forces on the Afghan side of the crossing, mainly personnel of the U.S.
Armed Forces. The American Forward Operating Base Torkham (FOB Torkham) is
located a few miles from the crossing in Nangarhar province (Afghanistan).
