18 February 2005	Friday	08 Muharram 1426

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ISLAMABAD, Feb 17: The decision to launch the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus service has divided the opposition. There are said to be major differences not only between the ARD and the MMA but also among component parties of the two alliances on the issue.

Interviews and statements of various opposition leaders show that the issue is the latest addition to hurdles that exist in the formation of a grand opposition alliance.

The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) has welcomed the decision to launch the bus service from April 7 as a step forward towards boosting the peace process, but its ally, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), has called it an "untimely decision".

The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl) says it regards the bus service as a victory of Pakistan's viewpoint on the disputed status of Kashmir while the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) sees it as a ploy to sideline the Kashmir problem.

Welcoming the decision, PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto in a statement on Thursday said the bus service would help alleviate the sufferings of divided Kashmiri families and also promote the prospects of safe and open borders in South Asia.

Safe and open borders in South Asia, without prejudice to the Kashmir dispute, can help build tension-free relations with India, she said, adding that cordial relations could help set the stage for Saarc countries to move towards a common market on the pattern of the European Union.

She contended that the PPP was vindicated because its vision of India-Pakistan friendly was now being owned even by those who had dubbed her and the PPP as security risks.

Talking to Dawn, PML-N secretary-general Iqbal Zafar Jhagra said that his party believed that Pakistan was showing far too much flexibility while announcing various confidence-building measures with India.

He was of the view that the decision to launch the Kashmir bus service would be short-lived and the service would be stopped after the change of government in Pakistan. He claimed that the Kashmir problem would be resolved only when there was an elected government in Pakistan.

JI chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed, in a statement, opposed the bus service and termed the agreement a ploy to ignore the Kashmir problem. Qazi Hussain Ahmed, who is also the MMA chief, said unless India accepted Kashmir as a disputed area, CBMs were a deviation from the national stance on the issue.

When contacted, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed of the JUI-F said the bus service had vindicated Pakistan's position. The JUI-F leader said that by resolving that people on both sides of the LoC could travel without passports, both India and Pakistan had agreed that Kashmir was a disputed territory.