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Friday, Apr 22, 2005

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National

Second bus leaves without incident

Special Correspondent

38 travel from Srinagar and 28 from Muzaffarabad; starting point kept secret

CROSSING THE LoC: Passengers from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir on the second bus to Srinagar wave to onlookers at the Line of Control in Chakoti on Thursday. — Photo: AP

SRINAGAR: The second bus on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road left on Thursday without incident, or for that matter, the fanfare witnessed on its inaugural run on April 7.

While 38 passengers from here travelled to the other side of the Line of Control (LoC), the number of passengers coming from Muzaffarabad was less at 28, including 11 new passengers.

Tight security

There was tight security right from Srinagar to Kaman Post and even school buses were not allowed on the road till the "caravan of peace" had crossed the outskirts of Srinagar.

The start venue of the buses was kept secret till early morning and most of the passengers were under tight security since Wednesday evening. It was from the tightly-guarded Nehru Guest House in Cheshmashahi that the buses left. But two dummy buses accompanied by an ambulance went first. "Everything went off smoothly and there was absolutely no problem," said Raja Aijaz Ali, Deputy Inspector-General of Police, North Kashmir range.

Four militant organisations — al Nasireen, Save Kashmir Movement, al Arifeen and Farzandan-e-Millat — have not withdrawn their threat to "turn the bus into a coffin."

Heavy security on the 118-km road from Srinagar to Kaman Post has probably made the bus service possible. Ten companies of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), five companies of Border Service Force (BSF), a number of army men and police personnel had been deployed to ensure an incident-free day.

Relaxed atmosphere

Unlike the panic created on April 6 after the attack on the Tourist Reception Centre, the atmosphere was relaxed on Thursday.

As against 19 passengers who boarded the bus on April 7, 26 new passengers and 12 residents of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir returning after spending 15 days here took the journey this time. But 14 passengers travelling to Muzaffarabad boarded the bus at Salamabad, the village close to the LoC where the Tourist Reception Centre has recently come up.

"We have enjoyed our stay here. It was a really good beginning," said Akram Shah one of the passengers who boarded the first bus. However, the number of passengers coming from Muzaffarabad today was just 11 in addition to the 14 who returned to Kashmir.

At Kaman Post, which made history on April 7, the atmosphere was quite different.

It was a low-key affair with the Deputy Commissioner, Baramulla Dheeraj Gupta and his Muzaffarabad counterpart, Chowdary Liaqat Hussain, accompanying the passengers. The Regional Passport Officer, John Shilshi, was also present. There were no emotional scenes similar to last time but Ghulam Fatima, a woman from Srinagar who saw her grand children in Muzaffarabad for the first time, said, "I miss them but may be will visit again."

"I am coming here after 33 years," said Shehzada from Mirpur in PoK. The passengers travelling from here complained that the bus fare was exhorbitant. A sum of Rs. 1200 is a big amount for me," said a resident in Uri urging the authorities to lower the rates and make tickets available at TRC Salamabad. In contrast, the journey for passengers coming from PoK was free.

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