PEACE BRIDGE, India-Pakistan Border, 8 April 2005 — Hopes for lasting India-Pakistan peace surged yesterday as bus passengers defied militants and crossed the militarized line dividing Kashmir for the first time in nearly 60 years.
As the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service rolled across the line of control Kashmiris wept joyfully and clutched their loved ones after being reunited by the historic bus service, following decades of bloodshed and bitter separation caused by the nuclear rivals’ competing claims to the Himalayan region.
“It’s a blessing. I never thought this day would come,” said passenger Raja Naseer Khan, 60, a retired civil servant from Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, as he met his niece Noreen Arif for the first time.
The militarized line was what that kept Kashmiris on both the sides divided till date. The line that was associated with only bullets was yesterday decorated with white flags of peace on both sides of the divide.
Thus when the bus bridged the divide between India and Pakistan yesterday and 30 passengers of the bus from Muzaffarabad crossed the “Peace Bridge” straddling the line of control around 1:45 p.m. (IST), Prime Manmohan Singh said that they had taken a “small but significant step.” He called the bus a “caravan of amity.” The bridge was painted white appropriately to symbolize peace.
Around three hours later, 19 Indians crossed over the same bridge into Pakistan controlled Kashmir. For these passengers and hundreds others in queue, crossing the “Peace Bridge” is equivalent to a dream come true.
Diplomatically, the bus service has been hailed as the most significant confidence building measure taken by India and Pakistan. This is also symbolized by the bus route being dotted with messages of peace and friendship.
Undaunted by terrorist threats and attacks, amid unprecedented security, Manmohan along with Congress President Sonia Gandhi waved a navy blue flag to set the bus — Karavan-e-Aman (Caravan of Peace) — on its historic journey from the Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium in Srinagar.
During his brief speech, the Indian premier said: “The bus has opened a new chapter in the relations between India and Pakistan... (It) will unite brother with sister, people who never dreamt of coming together will do so. This is a bus of hope.”
At a function held to inaugurate the bus service, Sonia said that start of Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service would foster brotherhood and bring prosperity to the region. Asserting that the country was committed to improving Indo-Pak ties, she said other routes to Pakistan controlled Kashmir may also be opened in the near future.
External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh, Home Minister Shivraj Patil and several Kashmiri leaders were also present on the occasion.
And as the army band played in the background, the Indian passengers crossed the Peace Bridge on foot. They boarded the bus that was waiting for them at the end of the bridge. A warm welcome awaited them at Jacoti.
As the 30 passengers from Muzaffarabad crossed into India, Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and his deputy Mangat Ram Sharma welcomed them with garlands and bouquets.
After completing immigration and custom formalities, the Pakistani guests reached Salamabad where a cultural program was organized for them. Later, the bus proceeded to Srinagar.
Undeniably, militants showed their true colors by trying to disrupt the bus-service yesterday. While two explosions took place near the bus-route, a grenade was fired at the bus service but it missed its target. Besides, on Wednesday they attacked the very place where the Indian passengers had been lodged in Srinagar.
What stands out is that despite certain militants’ attempts to turn the peace vehicle into a coffin on wheels, the historic bus-service kept its date with peace-loving Kashmiris, with Indo-Pak diplomacy and of course with the world glued to the small screen.
“I can’t control my emotion. I am setting foot in my motherland,” said a tearful Shahid Bahar, a lawyer from Muzaffarabad. “I am coming here for the first time to meet my blood relations,” said Bahar, whose father crossed over in 1949. “It was my dream. It is unbelievable. Everyone is here.”
On both sides, they were hugged and kissed by relatives they had not held for decades, or in some cases, ever. “It’s for the first time that I have seen my uncle,” sobbed Noreen Arif, an adviser to Pakistani Kashmir’s prime minister, hugging him tearfully as he stepped off the bridge.
In Muzaffarabad, the Pakistani sector’s Prime Minister Sikandar Hayat welcomed the start of the bus service as “a historic step”.
The whole of scenic, mountain-bordered Muzaffarabad was decorated to mark the journey, while people lined the rooftops to wave off the bus. Passenger Zia Sardar, 37, a lawyer said: “I think I have achieved the objective of my life. Kashmir is my mother and I am meeting my mother.”
— Additional input from agencies
