The Afghan embassy in Pakistan has announced the closure of its consulate in Peshawar in protest of the Afghan flag being hoisted in the Afghan market in Peshawar.
A statement issued by the Afghan Embassy on Friday said that Pakistani police raided the Afghan market again on Thursday night and the Afghan flag installed there has been removed.
According to the statement, Afghan diplomatic officials strongly condemn the process and the process is against diplomatic achievements, so the Afghan consulate in Peshawar is being closed in protest.
Afghan Consulate General Peshawar Hashim Niazi said at a press conference that a few days ago the Afghan flag was dropped from the market on which the Ambassador of Afghanistan posted in Pakistan reacted strongly and said if the next flag If removed, they will close the consulate in Peshawar.
Hashim Niazi said that the consulate was being closed indefinitely after the flag was lifted for the second time and harassing the shopkeepers.
Businessman upset
Afghan market vendors said police officers and administration officials arrived at the market around 11pm to flag down Afghanistan and shut down shops. He said that a few hours after the incident, the Afghan Consul General arrived and had hoisted the flag again.
Afghan market union chairman Malik Khan Syed Mohmand told the BBC that he respected the institutions, but this is the second time police and administration officers come to the market in the dark of night and close their shops. He said that instead of market dispute, he has been renting shops in this market for the last forty years and he gives the rent to Afghan officials. Their business has been badly affected by the conflict.
The controversy over the Afghan flag hoisting on the Afghan market in Peshawar began this week, and on Wednesday evening, Afghan Ambassador Shikrullah Atif Mashal had warned that if the Afghan flag that was now being hoisted on the Afghan market in Peshawar was removed, Afghan consulate in Peshawar to close
The statement also alleged that on Tuesday, police and Pakistani authorities tried to hand over the market to the illegally occupied mafia, lock up market shops and remove the Afghan flag from there.
According to the Afghan Embassy statement, the Afghan ambassador had informed the media about the Afghan government’s position in Peshawar and the Afghan flag was again hoisted on the market.
The statement was quoted by the Afghan ambassador as saying, “The issue should be viewed not between individuals, but between the two countries. If the Pakistani authorities take this step again, the consulate in Peshawar will shut down.” ‘
Who owns the Afghan market Peshawar?
For decades, a Peshawar citizen has claimed to have owned the place on the Afghan market along Jinnah Park in the Firdous area of Peshawar.
Meanwhile, according to Afghan embassy officials, the market was bought by the Afghan government before the partition of India and is still owned by the Afghan National Bank.
Khan Syed Mohmand, chairman of the Association of Afghan Marketplace Shopkeepers, told the BBC that the market had been claimed by a man named Syed Zawar Hussain, but no one has seen the man himself.
According to Syed Mohmand, the mafia in the name of Syed Zawar wants to seize this market.
“I still say today that he should present Syed Zawar Hussain in front of us. We will vacate the market.”
According to him, there have been cases in the different courts of Pakistan between the man and the Afghan government on this market since 1971, but in January 2017, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ruled in favor of Syed Zawar Hussain, which the Afghan government does not recognize.
Afghan embassy officials in Islamabad say the Supreme Court’s decision is unilateral, on the other hand Shaukat Jamal Kashmiri, who has the plaintiff’s decree, says that Syed Zawar Hussain’s father was allotted the place in exchange for the property in 1989. Who left India after he became Pakistan.
According to Khan Syed Mohmand, on Tuesday evening, the administration forcibly tried to evacuate the market, damaged some shops and locked the market.
According to him, “at the request of an Afghan consul general in Peshawar that night, we broke the locks and opened our shops, and since Wednesday morning we have returned.”
What is the government’s stand?
At a weekly briefing of the Pakistan Foreign Office on Thursday, when asked about the spokesman, Dr Mohammad Faisal said, “There was a legal case of the Afghan market in Peshawar, the Supreme Court has decided in that and it is a decision.” Obviously that will be implemented. ‘
“If there has been any non-diplomatic activity in this regard, they are in our notice and will take action,” he said.
Reaction on social media
Photos of Afghan flags waving on the roof of the Afghan market on Wednesday evening went viral on social media in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where it was shared by the Afghan people with the message that it was proud that the Afghan flag was once It was then flown to where it was taken down.
Meanwhile, social media users in Pakistan expressed anger over these photos and videos and raised the question, “Why is the Afghan flag being hoisted on Pakistani soil?”
Consumers also said that the Afghan ambassador forcibly hoisted the flag and that the government should regularly call on Afghan authorities to protest.
According to Khan Syed, the total area of the Afghan market is 64543 square feet, which is 238 Mare. The area has two kanals of five kanal anees marley and five kanal karees of the kanal. Two kanals of this area are claimed by the railway on Barmerley land, which is near the railway tracks. Following the court’s recent ruling, a total of 66 kerosene (2 canals and 16 keros) of land comes into the Afghan Consulate.
Shops & Rentals
There are close to 300 shops in the market that mostly sell footwear, baby tailoring, ready-made suits, plastic items and other wholesale and retail goods. The rent of small shops within this market ranges from Rs. 1200 to Rs. 2000, but according to the administration of the market, there are shops on Main Road which have a rent of up to Rs. 25000 and these rents are connected by Afghan consular officials every month. Are.
An Afghan Consulate office is also set up in this market in which Afghan officials are present at all times.
Location
The famous Chapli Kebab shops in Peshawar, Jalil Chapel Kebab and Tori Chapel Kebab are also sold in this market. In front of this market is the famous Jinnah Park in Peshawar, where it was formerly used by Firdous Cinema, in which the plaza and hotel have now been constructed. This area is located on GT Road opposite Fort Hissar.
In the past, this place used to be a vehicle for Afghan consulates, and from here, vehicles used to travel to Afghanistan. From there, trade goods were also sent to Afghanistan, which in the past was a major center of trade.