The Hindu : National : Omar, Mirwaiz welcome bus service

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Friday, Apr 08, 2005

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National

Omar, Mirwaiz welcome bus service

By Our Staff Reporter

SRINAGAR, APRIL 7. The inaugural run of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus evoked a mixed response from the separatist amalgam.

The chairman of Tehreek-ul-Hurriyat, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, called it a symbolic exercise and said the "bus service is no solution to the raging Kashmir issue. We need to move beyond the symbolism to resolve the issue."

The chairman of the moderate faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq expressed the hope that softening of the Line of Control would solve the humanitarian crisis of divided families.

The Mirwaiz has his relatives who migrated to Muzaffarabad in 1947-48 and one of his uncles, Mirwaiz Yousuf Shah, became president of the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir for a short duration. "We hope that the people on both sides of the Line of Control would come closer to each other and the artificial barriers would disappear one day," he said.

Omar Abdullah, president of the National Conference — the main opposition party in the State — participated in the function. Earlier, he had said that his party would boycott the event if it were made hostage to "partisan politics." Mr. Abdullah not only participated in the event today, he also wished the passengers luck.

Strike call

A strike was called by the United Jehad Council, which has its headquarters in Muzaffarabad of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, and the hard-line factions of the separatist outfits. Shops and business establishments remained closed but this has been the scene for nine days, in protest against the imposition of Value Added Tax in the State.

The flagging-off ceremony had many firsts for the journalist community. The event was covered by two Delhi-based Pakistan correspondents belonging to the Associated Press of Pakistan and Radio Pakistan. This was the first time Pakistan journalists were allowed to cover an official even in the State. Incidentally one of the journalists, Qadir Beg, belonged to the Hunza area of the Northern areas, once part of the undivided State of Jammu and Kashmir.

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