SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI, 26 October 2005 — Angry survivors of a devastating earthquake desperate to be reunited with their stricken families hit out at India and Pakistan yesterday for delaying the opening of their militarized de facto border in Kashmir.
“It is a frustrating experience,” said Ghulam Qadir, 72, whose sister, son-in-law and brother-in-law died in the Muzaffarabad district of the Pakistani zone of Kashmir in the Oct. 8 earthquake.
Seventeen days after the 7.6-magnitude earthquake ravaged Kashmir, the de facto border between the two zones has yet to be opened. Humanitarian workers say that opening up the Line of Control (LOC) that splits the Himalayan region would enable them to reach areas on the Pakistan side now only accessible by helicopter.
India has proposed opening three points on the LOC where survivors could cross into the Indian zone for relief and medical trreatment.
Referring to the three points, Teetwal in Tangdhar, Aman Setu in Uri sector and Chakan da Bagh in Poonch being “operational,” Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee said yesterday: “The three points have become operational for providing relief to people from across the LOC.” “Whosoever is in a position to come across will receive medical treatment and relief material,” he said.
Mukherjee acknowledged that there were not many people as yet to take advantage of these relief camps.
Once the camps actually start working, it would be for the first time in around five decades that Kashmiris would be able to walk across the LOC. Till India and Pakistan reach an agreement on related issues, despite the camps being “operational,” there are not likely to be any takers for relief from across the LOC. Dismissing reports of India and Pakistan differing over setting up of these relief points, Mukherjee said that these had been erected only after consultations between the two foreign offices.
Pakistan, meanwhile, has proposed five points where it says Kashmiris should be allowed to cross in either direction to reach stricken family members and where relief can be facilitated.
Meanwhile, police yesterday detained a separatist leader after he set out to cross the LOC, as separatists and former rebels in Indian Kashmir said they wanted to follow suit. Hard-line separatist Nayeem Khan and 15 of his supporters were held near Mirgund, 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Srinagar, while they were heading to the border sector of Uri, police said.
Khan had declared last week that he would breach the LOC at Uri and cross over to Pakistan-administered Kashmir to help the victims of the earthquake. He had made it clear his group would not seek permission from the Indian government to cross the divide.
