SRINAGAR/MUZAFFARABAD: India and Pakistan on Thursday launched a historic bus link to reunite divided families on both sides of Kashmir as part of a now faltering, now surging peace process between the two countries.
Greeted by cheers, tears and dancing, bus passengers defied militants and crossed the militarised line dividing Kashmir for the first time in nearly 60 years.
Kashmiris wept joyfully and clutched their loved ones after being reunited by the historic bus service. "It's a blessing. I never thought this day would come," said passenger Raja Naseer Khan, 60, a retired civil servant from Srinagar, as he met his niece Noreen Arif for the first time.
Thirty passengers from the Pakistani zone were first to walk across the 67-metre Kaman Bridge that straddles the frontier, where they were mobbed and garlanded by Indian dignitaries. To the tune of bagpipes played by Indian soldiers, some kissed the ground and others burst into tears, before they boarded another bus bound for Srinagar.
Just over two hours later 21 people from the Indian side crossed over. They were the first to arrive at their eventual destination, where the people of Muzaffarabad took to the rooftops to greet the bus. "I am overjoyed, I am speechless. People on both sides overwhelmingly welcomed us," said passenger Zainul Abidin Shah, crying as he hugged his brother, who lives in Muzaffarabad.
Emotional scenes were witnessed as family members reunited after decades hugged and kissed each other. "I am coming to Srinagar after 35 years as despite all my attempts I could not get a visa from India to come and see my brother in Srinagar," said Ishar Ahmed Bhatt, a physician from Pakistani Kashmir. "I have not met his children. I have not met our father for all these years. Oh. I tried so hard for 35 years. Oh, Allah! I am so fortunate," Bhatt said, first weeping and then bursting into laughter.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, flanked by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, ceremonially waved a large navy blue flag to set a luxurious, white colour bus rolling from the heavily guarded Sher-e-Kashmir sports stadium.
Singh called it an important day in the lives of people both in India and Pakistan, particularly for Kashmiris. "(The bus) has opened a new chapter in the relations between India and Pakistan," Singh said in a brief speech, addressing people armed with Indian tricolours at the stadium. "(It) will unite brother with sister, people who never dreamt of coming together will do so. This is a bus of hope."
He praised Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf for helping make the bus service possible, saying it had invigorated the often-stumbling India-Pakistan peace process, which began in early 2004.
In Muzaffarabad, hundreds of people crowded rooftops and pressed together along the road where the bus departed. Sikandar Hayyat Khan, the top elected official in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, urged India to watch over the travellers. "Our brave people are going to Srinagar despite the attack there, and I ask the Indian government to provide protection to our people," he said in Muzaffarabad.