Saturday, Nov 27, 2004
Overwhelming support for free movement across LoC
By Shujaat Bukhari
MUZAFFARABAD, NOV. 26. There appears to be overwhelming support for confidence-building measures (CBMs) such as opening the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road, though extremists see it as an attempt to neutralise the "struggle for the right to self-determination."
There is hardly a voice of dissent over the issue of free movement across the Line of Control (LoC) from Mirpur to Muzaffarabad. "This will be the biggest step towards mitigating the sufferings of the people on both sides," said Commander Abdul Aziz in Mirpur. He said conditions must "allow the divided families to meet. We have not seen our brothers for many decades."
"I do not think any sane person will oppose the move to run a bus service to Srinagar and Jammu," said Mohammad Hussain a student. Bashir Bhat, a senior Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front activist who was in jail for eight years, too sees reason in allowing free movement. "The time has come when people on both sides should meet."
Opinion may be divided in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), on a final solution on Kashmir but there appears to be consensus on the issue of running a bus between the two sides. Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan, Prime Minister of PoK, said: "I do not see any problem in making people's movement easier." But the mechanism for the service is yet to be evolved.
The secretary-general of the Pakistan People's Party in "Azad Kashmir", Chowdary Mohammad Yasin is in favour of the CBMs. "You have seen the plight of the divided families. There will surely be respite for them if they can meet and only by opening roads can that happen," he said.
Sardar Khalid Ibrahim, head of the Jammu and Kashmir People's Party, is cautious but has no problem if "crossing of the LOC does not mean using Indian passports. Then, what is the difference between Chakothi (on the PoK side) and Wagah borders? He insists though that "in principle we are with it."
In meetings with lawyers, political activists and journalists lifting restrictions on the movement of people was the consensus. Syed Arif Bahar, president of the central Press Club in Muzaffarabad, thanked SAFMA for organising the visit of journalists and said: "You are doing a great job to heal the wounds of a battered humanity."
Ibrahim Gul, a writer, complained that he was not being allowed to visit Srinagar to offer prayers at the grave of his grandfather. "Is it not a shame that I have to seek a visa for visiting my home," he asked.
Saleema Atta, a Professor born in Sopore town of North Kashmir has similar views. "Both India and Pakistan have not behaved nicely with Kashmiris. So we should be allowed to decide our fate on our own," she said, adding that opening the roads should be a first step towards a peaceful resolution.
Hardliners, however, differed. Shortly before the delegation of journalists arrived here, Jamiat-e-Tulba, the student wing of the Jamat-e-Islami (JEI) staged a demonstration against initiatives such as the journalists' visit, which were aimed at diverting the "ongoing struggle". The JEI chief in Pakistan, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, said: "They want to neutralise the status of the conflict in the region and we will oppose it," he told The Hindu at his Lahore headquarters.
Copyright © 2004, The Hindu.