SRINAGAR, 17 October 2005 — Politicians in the Indian and Pakistani zones of Kashmir yesterday called for the militarized cease-fire Line of Control (LOC)to be opened for relief operations in the earthquake-hit state.
“We urge India and Pakistan to throw open the Line of Control so that we can take relief to our affected brethren in the other part of Kashmir,” said Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Indian Kashmir’s top separatist.
“The issue should be viewed as a humanitarian one,” he said.
More than 1,300 people were killed on the Indian side and tens of thousands of homes were destroyed. In neighboring Pakistan, where the 7.6-magnitute earthquake was centered, over 38,000 people were killed and more than two million made homeless.
On Tuesday Indian Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed urged the federal government to allow direct shipments of earthquake aid collected by local charities to the Pakistani-zone of the state.
“There are many private organizations who want to send donations across,” Sayeed told a news conference.
Sardar Hayat Khan, the leader of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, has also called for opening of the LOC to accelerate quake relief operations.
He told the BBC Hindi service that cooperation was needed as “we have to save humanity”.
India has also allowed Pakistan to send relief helicopters to an otherwise “no fly zone” along the Line of Control, the de facto border dividing the Indian and Pakistani zones of Kashmir. However, Islamabad has not reacted to an Indian request for joint relief operations along the LOC.
