UNITED NATIONS, 1 June 2005 — The start of the limited bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, linking the Indian — and Pakistani — administered parts of Kashmir, is considered a sign of better things to come by the Kashmiri public. Divided families can meet after decades.
The UN “cease-fire line” dividing Kashmir came into force in 1949 after the war between India and Pakistan over the unified Kashmir ended after intervention by the Security Council.
The Security Council resolutions on Kashmir also mandated demilitarization of Kashmir and a UN-supervised plebiscite in the state to ascertain the wishes of the people — which remain unimplemented. The plebiscite was to find out which country — India or Pakistan — the Kashmiris want to join.
But the first step of the resolution that authorized the “cease-fire line” remains in place, and continues to serve a purpose it was never intended for — that of Kashmir’s “Berlin Wall”.
Thus, if a mother in Srinagar on the Indian side has a son in Muzaffarabad on the Pakistani side of Kashmir, she could not see her son. Likewise a brother is not permitted to see his sister, and family gatherings including members from the other side of the “cease-fire line” have been unimaginable at family events such as weddings and funerals.
But now there seems to be a tiny opening in Kashmir’s “Berlin Wall”.
No passports or visas are required to travel by bus between the Indian and Pakistani sides of Kashmir. This has been welcomed as recognition that Kashmir is a unified state.
But Kashmiris in general temper their hope with a realism that the bus service appears to be a gimmick to divert attention from the real issue — finding a solution to the Kashmir dispute. From New York, I made a special trip to Muzaffarabad on the Pakistani side of Kashmir to board the inaugural bus to Srinagar, in the Indian part.
From the moment I boarded the bus in Muzaffarabad, I saw jubilant crowds who cheered, waved, and showered the bus with flower petals.
The journey to Srinagar lasted over seven hours, although the road linking the two cities is only 183 kilometers (113 miles).
The winding road in the mountains of Kashmir had been closed for about half a century, and along the bus route were signs of recent construction to make it ready for traffic. At the border with India, the 30 passengers including myself crossed on foot to the Indian side over a rickety but freshly painted bridge, amidst tight security, and boarded a second bus operated by authorities in Srinagar. Near the bridge on the Pakistani side was a huge sign stating in bold letters: “No religion teaches animosity toward each other.” The first stop after crossing the border to the Indian side was the town of Salamabad, where an elaborate “Waz-a-Wan” Kashmiri banquet had been prepared for passengers. Passengers were welcomed by songs and music. As the bus approached closer to Srinagar, crowds carrying umbrellas had assembled in the rain. But the rain did not dampen their spirits or slogans.
The cheering included orchestrations of slogans of Azadi (freedom), along the entire bus route in the Indian part of Kashmir. Throughout the beautiful Kashmir Valley, the word Azadi echoes loud and clear.
“We are ordinary folks taking the bus to see our relatives in Srinagar,” said Akram Shah, a lawyer in Muzaffarabad. “But we are being treated as if we are entering Kashmir as its liberators.”
“No royalty or head of state could have been cheered and welcomed as we were”, declared Mahboob, 55, who was on the inaugural bus. In Srinagar, he met his father’s 90-year old sister, Mukhta, for the first time in his life.
In Srinagar I visited the offices of the United Nations Military Observer Group for India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) that was created in 1949 to monitor the “cease-fire line” — also dubbed “Line of Control.” UNMOGIP’s role was to be temporary, until Kashmir was demilitarized and a UN supervised plebiscite took place.
But this “temporary” UNMOGIP role has continued ever since at huge cost to the world body. In 2005 the cost was $8.37 million.
In addition to UNMOGIP headquarters in Srinagar on the Indian side, it has another office in Rawalpindi in Pakistan. UNMOGIP is headed by Chief UN Military Observer, Maj. Gen. Guido Palmeiri of Italy, who has a staff of 44 military observers and 24 civilian international staff members from Belgium, Chile, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Republic of Korea, Sweden and Uruguay. In addition 46 local staff support UNMOGIP.
In spite of the euphoria, the start of the bus service raises important issues.
These include whether Kashmiris from the Pakistani side can stay longer than 15 days, or reclaim their homes or property on the Indian side.
Upon arrival in Srinagar, I was delighted to see the home I left as a child, when my late father Abdul Ghani Rinto was expelled in 1949 from Srinagar to the Pakistani side, by his political opponent, then Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah of Kashmir. But will I ever be able to live in my own home?
There are obvious economic implications to the continuing Kashmir conflict.
“Kashmir lost 27 million tourists from 1989 to 2002,leading to tourism revenue loss of $3.6 billion,” according to a study by the Bombay-based Strategic Foresight Group of the International Center for Peace Initiatives.
Talking to people near Srinagar’s Hazrat Bal Mosque, and Shankaracharya Temple, I noted that the Kashmiri public feels a sense of betrayal at not have been given a chance to exercise their right of self-determination.
One Kashmiri lawyer in Srinagar showed me the Punjab Muslim Restaurant in Amira Kadal, next to the Palladium Theater, where then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, in November 1947, promised a United Nations plebiscite for Kashmir.
It is this sense of broken promises, as well as the division of Kashmiri families, that continues to fuel unrest in Kashmir. In spite of the continuing conflict, what is most impressive about the Vale of Kashmir is its spectacular natural beauty.
The shimmering snow on the mountains of Gulmarg, the magnificent waters of the Dal Lake surrounded by hills, and breathtaking gardens are all reminders that Mogul Emperor Jehangir called the Vale of Kashmir a “heaven on earth.”
