SRINAGAR, 3 April 2005 — Kashmiri rebels threatened yesterday to kill passengers planning to travel in a historic bus service that would unite divided families in Indian and Pakistani regions of Kashmir after more than half a century, despite pleas from hard-line groups not to resort to violence.
The four militant groups that had threatened to attack the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service last Wednesday today handed down a more serious threat to include the families and homes of prospective travelers.
In a faxed statement that was received here by offices of local newspapers and news agencies, the four militant groups, Al-Nasireen, Al-Arifeen, Farzandan-e-Milat and Save Kashmir Movement, said yesterday they had they “complete computerized records of those intending to undertake the travel and if the intending travelers did not heed the warning, the group would have no option but to strike such families and their homes.”
The bus service, scheduled to be flagged off on April 7 between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, is being seen as one of the most concrete signs of a cautious peace process between India and Pakistan after decades of violence.
“Those people who intend to board the bus are warned not to play with their lives,” a joint statement from the four groups said. The four groups had earlier in the week warned Kashmiris not to travel on the bus, saying it was a ploy to sabotage “Kashmir’s freedom struggle”.
The Al-Nasireen and Save Kashmir Movement had claimed responsibilities for attacks on Indian military targets in the past, while Farzandan-e-Millat and Al-Arifeen are little known groups, police said.
“We are warning them that we will not allow anybody to take a joy ride on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus and trample upon the bodies of thousands of martyrs,” said the statement faxed to local newspapers in Srinagar.
“This service is a sell-out of martyr’s blood and will prove to be an end of Jihad in Kashmir,” the statement faxed to news agencies in Srinagar said. “It will also end up handing over Kashmir permanently to India.”
The rebels also said they had phoned several people booked to travel on the inaugural bus and warned them not to board it.
But Kashmiris planning to travel across to Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistani Kashmir, have dismissed the rebel threat and vowed to board. Kashmir’s chief minister, Mufti Mohammad Syed has said passengers would be provided with full security.
“They (militants) failed to deter us in the past and will not succeed now either,” he said in a statement.
The repeated threat from the militants came after Syed Ali Geelani, the head of the hard-line faction of Indian Kashmir’s main separatist alliance, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, condemned a similar statement released Wednesday.
The threats are not expected to delay the start of the service, which has been suspended for more than 50 years.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was quoted by newspapers yesterday as saying that it was the responsibility of both countries to ensure that passengers on the bus service were protected.
While condemning the threat of violence, moderate Kashmiri separatists warned the bus service was not enough to bring peace to the region and repeated their call for Kashmiris to pursue independence.
“No peace can happen in a bus. We will have to address the basic issue of Kashmir,” said Abdul Gani Bhat, a senior leader of a moderate faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference.
“Once the issue is resolved the peace shall return in any case.”
— Additional input from agencies
