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Mirwaiz bats for restarting cross-LoC bus service, trade
The demands come after PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, earlier this year, also sought the resumption of cross-LoC services, calling them the biggest Confidence-Building-Measures (CBMs) between India and Pakistan
Hurriyat leader and Jamia chief priest Masjid Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Monday praised the success of ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan on border for the past four years while advocating for opening of cross- Line of Control (LoC) bus services and trade for more people to people contact between two divided parts of Jammu and Kashmir.
The demands come after Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti, earlier this year, also sought the resumption of cross-LoC services, calling them the biggest Confidence-Building-Measures (CBMs) between India and Pakistan.
“It is a good thing that there has been no shelling on the ceasefire line for the past 4-5 years and people, on both sides, are feeling relaxed. We want both the countries to take this initiative forward and start (cross LoC) trade. The (cross LoC) bus service and trade in Kashmir was stopped,” Mirwaiz, while interacting with media in Srinagar, said.
In February 2021, Indian and Pakistan’s militaries agreed to strictly observe a ceasefire agreement along the LoC one-and-a-half years after the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 was revoked by the central government and the region split into two UTs in August 2019.
Mirwaiz said the issue should be seen through human prism. “Two weeks back one of our elders in the family passed away and if the situation would have been conducive we would have gone there. At-least in times of grief, the families would interact. But that (bus service) has been stopped. Trade between the two parts of Kashmir had helped many families and connectivity had started. These initiatives need to be revisited,” he said.
The bus service between two parts of Kashmir was launched on April 7, 2005, to allow the relatives, living in the two parts of Kashmir and divided by the line of control for decades, visit each other while the trade started on October 21, 2008 as a confidence building measure between the two sides of the divided State since 1947.
Traders from both sides would do the business through barter. However, the services were stopped in 2019 with the government citing the “use of routes by Pakistani elements”.
Mirwaiz said they were ready to help in taking forward the dialogue process.
“Obviously these initiatives are in the hands of the centre, not the (local) government here, and if they give any positive indication, the J&K leadership will always take it forward. I am also sure that Pakistani leadership also understands that today issues need to be resolved through dialogue and interaction,” he said.
The Hurriyat chairperson said his efforts and the stand of the pulpit of Jamia Masjid has always been that issues can only be solved through dialogue. “Violence, guns or tyranny is not the solution to any issue. We have been repeatedly saying that to address the political aspect of the Kashmir issue, the dialogue process is to be taken forward,” he said.
The leader added that after elections were held in Kashmir, the government formed had their powers limited. “J&K still has the stamp of a union territory. Day to day issues like power, roads and water, which are important, the government is responsible to redress them. They should fulfil their commitments made to people. But as far as the political aspect of the Kashmir issue is concerned, till the time central government doesn’t change its thinking and understand that the people of Kashmir want this issue to be taken towards resolution. We don’t want to live in uncertainty nor do we want any bloodshed,” he said.
Mirwaiz also wanted the joint parliamentary committee to give them time to put forth their point of view over the proposed amendments in the Waqf Act.
“We have written to the JPC and are waiting for time so that we can put forward our stand before the JPC. Waqf (changes) are unacceptable for all Muslims. Waqf is a religious matter and the government’s intervention is inappropriate. We can bring some changes for its betterment but the way amendments have been brought about is one-sided. We oppose it and want other parties of India, besides the opposition, those in NDA they should also come out with a clear policy and stress that they won’t support this (amendments),” he said.
Mirwaiz also welcomed the verdict of the Supreme Court against “bulldozer justice”, saying, “The injustice of ‘bulldozer justice’ is arbitrarily targeting a particular community.”
