20 February 2005	Sunday	10 Muharram 1426

MUZAFFARABAD, Feb 19: A veteran Kashmiri leader has said that the proposed Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service should be accepted as "a very positive step and a pragmatic breakthrough."

"There is no justification for opposing the bus service and my message to the hard liners is that please do not subject the Kashmiris to further trials and tribulations," said former Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) president/ prime minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan on Saturday.

Without naming anyone, Mr Khan said: "Instead of being intransigent, they should accept the move in view of the ground realities." Kashmir's hard-line leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who heads his own faction of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, had told BBC on Friday that the bus service was not the aim of Kashmiris and its projection would sideline Kashmir dispute.

Similarly, Kashmir's leading fighter group Hizbul Mujahideen and some other small outfits had also termed the bus service as a "cosmetic step and a non issue" but by and large there has not been a categorical rejection of the move from any quarter.

Mr Khan, a senior leader of the ruling Muslim Conference, told Dawn by telephone that earlier all the confidence building measures (CBMs) had been taking place in India and Pakistan which was not in conformity with the requirements of composite dialogue.

"Composite dialogue requires a similar progress in Kashmir and the start of bus service is a CBM that is taking place in Kashmir itself. It's a very positive step and a pragmatic breakthrough and everyone should lend support to it," he said while attributing most of the credit of the move to the Indian authorities.

"Let it also be clear that this agreement is not a win or a defeat of any side", he said. He said the agreement on the bus service should have been taken much earlier and asked India and Pakistan to open all other natural routes across the Line of Control (LoC) to facilitate the residents of both parts of the state.

He said both sides should also remain watchful of the terrorist elements who could sabotage the move. "There are many a slips between cup and lips. Let us recognise the facts that there may be elements which do not like this move and can sabotage it. Not only India and Pakistan should be watchful of these elements but the Kashmiris themselves also should keep a vigil so that this move is not subverted", he said.

The MC leader has since long been suggesting that some interim steps should be worked out before a permanent solution to the long standing Kashmir problem. "It is the first of those interim steps which can create a conducive atmosphere in the region. But it should not remain confined to the movement from one part to the other", he added.

When asked if he would like to travel across the dividing line, he replied in affirmative. He however said that priority should be given to the divided families followed by Kashmiri leadership from both sides, then media men, traders and people from other sections of life.