NEW DELHI, May 26: India tersely told Kashmir’s resistance leaders on Thursday that they are not allowed to travel beyond Azad Kashmir if they cross the Line of Control by the recently inaugurated Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus next week. The announcement came shortly after Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, one of the senior resistance groups, said its leaders would travel to Islamabad by the bus.
Reacting to a question over Pakistan’s invitation to Kashmiri leaders to visit Islamabad by the bus route on June 2, an Indian foreign ministry spokesman said this would be against the understanding with Pakistan on the bus service.
“The government also has a clear understanding with Pakistan that passengers travelling on the bus can travel only within the territory of the erstwhile State of Jammu & Kashmir. Any travel beyond the territory would not be in keeping with the understanding between the two governments,” the spokesman said.
Some Kashmiri leaders slammed the sudden travel restriction as arbitrary and unhelpful while others said since the invitation had come from the Pakistani leadership the matter should be amicably resolved between Islamabad and New Delhi.
“We had agreed to accept the invitation after a long discussion,” said a senior Kashmiri resistance leader who asked not to be named. “If our travel to Pakistan against Indian advisory brings retribution, then many of us would have to be prepared to spend some more time in Jodhpur.”
The reference was to the border town in Rajasthan, which has been a preferred prison for India’s high value resistance leaders and insurgents. “Most of the people who have travelled so far by the bus to Muzaffarabad have used the opportunity to travel to other parts of Pakistan, which is normal,” said Mirwaiz Maulvi Umar Farooq, who plans to take the bus with four other members of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference.
“If the government of India did not make an issue of the previous visits by our people to Pakistani cities beyond Azad Kashmir, it would seem to be strange coincidence that they are emphasizing the rule for us,” the Mirwaiz told Dawn.
Asked to give India’s response to Pakistan’s invitation to Kashmiri leaders, the Indian spokesman said: “The government, as per the existing practice, will consider applications by individuals to travel by bus from Srinagar to Muzaffarabad. This would be the basis on which members of the Hurriyat could apply for travel on the bus.”
The spokesman said the applications would be processed according to established procedures, indicating that no extra help would be forthcoming. He further emphasized that “if any individual is travelling on the bus from Srinagar to Muzaffarabad, the very clear and explicit understanding between the governments of India and Pakistan is that while this bus is open to the citizens of India and the citizens ofPakistan they can only travel within the territory of the erstwhile State of J&K. Anything which goes beyond this will be contrary to understanding of the two governments.”
Asked if there had been any discussion with the Pakistan High Commission on the invitation issue, the spokesman said: “This is an explicit understanding which was reached between the two governments before the bus was started. I do not think that we need to raise it again and again. Both governments have accepted it. Once governments accept it, such understandings are normally expected to be respected.”
JKLF leader Yasin Malik said he would wait and watch the developments on the travel hitch before commenting on it. He said an international-level delegation would arrive in Muzaffarabad from different parts of the world to join him on the official trip to Islamabad.
The Regional Passport Office in Srinagar, meanwhile, has said it has run out of travel forms for the Srinagar-Muzzaffarabad bus service. If they choose to fly to Islamabad instead of boarding the bus, then only Maulvi Umar Farooq has a valid Indian passport which too expires after a month. With only a week left for the leaders to board the June 2 bus, the usual 15-day duration for travel form verification may also add to their woes.
