Historic 'peace bus' leaves
2005-04-07 08:15
Muzaffarabad - A historic bus service linking divided Kashmir set off on Thursday from Muzaffarabad, the capital of the Himalayan territory's Pakistani zone, but was nearly an hour late.
Carrying 30 passengers, the brand new, lime green and gold coach pulled out of a renovated terminal at 10:57, headed for Srinagar, the summer capital of the Indian sector, witnesses said.
However the departure was 57 minutes later than planned, due to a drawn-out launch ceremony featuring a speech by the Pakistani sector's Prime Minister Sikandar Hayat and readings from the Koran.
The bus for Kaman Bridge, which is the last point on the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border, was surrounded by tight security following an attack Wednesday by Islamic militants on a passenger complex in Srinagar.
"The start of the bus service is a historic step," Hayat said as he flagged off the bus in front of around 2 000 people, who threw rose petals at the departing coach.
The first bus service to link divided Kashmir in almost 60 years, a powerful symbol of the ongoing peace process between India and Pakistan.
The bus link, agreed upon by nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan in February, is seen as the first tangible result of the 14-month nascent peace process between the two nations who have fought two of their three wars over the disputed Himalayan region.
In Muzaffarabad passengers said they were undeterred by recent attacks and would board the bus as scheduled on Thursday.
"I will go in any case," said Abida Masoodi. "I am dying to see my family. It has been my dream which is coming true with this journey," said Masoodi, 53, whose parents, three brothers and two sisters live in Srinagar.
"We are Muslims and they are Muslims too. I can't understand why they oppose the meeting of a sister with her brother and meeting of a brother with his brother," she said.
Bus services between the two cities were suspended in 1947 amid the chaos that followed the partition of India and Pakistan at the end of British rule.
India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, which they both hold in part and claim in full.