The Hindu : Front Page : Bus to Muzaffarabad flagged off

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 08, 2005

Front Page

Front Page

Bus to Muzaffarabad flagged off

By Harish Khare

SIGNALLING PEACE: The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, and the UPA Chairperson, Sonia Gandhi, flagging off the first bus to Muzaffarabad at Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium, in Srinagar on Thursday. — Photo: Shanker Chakravarty

SRINAGAR, APRIL 7. The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, today flagged off two buses carrying 21 passengers on the inaugural run of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service setting in motion a process that optimists believe could transform India-Pakistan relations.

Two buses, JK01-0529 and JK02-0315, rolled out at 11 a.m. on the Jhelum Valley Road, a route that had remained closed for over five decades. Dr. Singh described the beginning of the new journey as an "answer to millions' aspirations."

An aged couple later disembarked due to ill-health 4 km from Srinagar, leaving only 19 passengers travelling to PoK.

Coming a day after the militants' dramatic attack on the Tourist Reception Centre, barely a stone's throw-away from the venue of today's function — the Sher-e-Kashmir cricket stadium in the heart of Srinagar — the flag-off was a show of strength as well as a commitment to the idea of reconciliation.

Apart from the Prime Minister, the Congress president and UPA chairperson, Sonia Gandhi, the External Affairs Minister, Natwar Singh, the Petroleum Minister, Mani Shanker Aiyar, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, besides the Jammu and Kashmir Governor, Lt. Gen. S.K. Sinha, the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, and the Deputy Chief Minister, Mangat Ram Sharma, participated in the function. The Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, who had planned to travel to Srinagar stayed back in New Delhi to "monitor" the situation.

Mr. Natwar Singh invited Omar Abdullah, president of the National Conference, to come and join the dignitaries in the VVIP enclosure. And every speaker made it a point to acknowledge Mr. Abdullah's presence, thereby enlisting his and his party's support for the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus project. The bus was a major poll promise of the ruling People's Democratic Party in the State and the Opposition National Conference has been critical of the ruling coalition for "over-selling" the bus.

Praise for Musharraf

Internal equations apart, the flag-off ceremony sent out messages to the militants and Pakistan. Dr. Singh called the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, an equal partner in the venture.

"We are thankful to Pakistan and its President, Pervez Musharraf, for making the service a reality," he said. Without their cooperation, the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road would have remained shut.

Describing the event as the "first step on a long journey," the Prime Minister said that "a door has been opened" and that "India was ready to accept Pakistan's hand, and the two countries, hand in hand, can work for the welfare of their people." He noted that the most important aspect of this "bus" cooperation was that the two governments had bowed to the sentiments of their people.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh greets a passenger travelling to Muzaffarabad in Srinagar before flagging off the bus service. — AP

Dr. Singh hoped that the new route would encourage not just the movement of passengers but would also promote trade links.

An answer to

militants: Sonia

Obviously addressing the militant constituency, Ms. Gandhi said the presence of so many people was an answer to all those who had mounted the attack on the Tourist Reception Centre.

She asserted that the forces opposed to peace and reconciliation had misread the public mood and they would not succeed in slowing down the people's quest for a new beginning.