KARACHI, Feb 24: Mohammad Sami says he may never go to India again to see his relatives after his parents and three siblings died in the firebombing of the “Samjhota Express”.

“It is a trauma for divided families like ours. We have lost everything in one incident -- parents, a sister and two brothers,” said Sami, a resident of Hyderabad. Sami came home to Pakistan just a month ago back after meeting his relatives in India.

Transport links like the Samjhota Express and the Thar Express, which runs across the border further south; have reunited many families after decades apart caused by hostility between Pakistan and India, which have fought three wars.

Emotions ran high Thursday when bodies of seven victims arrived here, with public outpourings of grief.

“What would be left if we lose hope for peace? There is no other option for our future generations,” said Abdul Sattar, 65, who has been visiting India by train for several years.

“Forces of darkness are trying to overcome the forces of progress,” he said.

B.M. Kutty, a member of the Pakistan-India Peace Coalition, said the train was targeted “because it would have a very big impact on the masses in both the countries.”

He called the attack a bloody attempt to derail not only the Samjhota Express but also the three-year-old peace process between the nuclear-armed South Asian rivals.

The leaders of both the countries have shown maturity but more must be done to reassure the common people of the subcontinent, who mostly travel by train and bus, Kutty said.

“It will certainly take time to restore people's confidence. There should be more security but the trains should not be locked,” he said, referring to reports that doors on the doomed express were shut tight.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have said the peace process must continue and there has been none of the finger pointing at Islamabad that followed last year's Mumbai train blasts.

“We must go for a fast track to peace so that the peace train should not be derailed,” said Anis Haroon, president of the Aurat Foundation.—AFP