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Bus service: PoK thrilled, militants unimpressed K J M Varma in Islamabad | February 17, 2005 18:35 IST The people of Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir have welcomed the Indo-Pak agreement to start a bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad from April 7. PoK Prime Minister Sardar Hayat Khan said the bus service is a major breakthrough that could ultimately lead to the resolution of the thorny Kashmir issue. The people in Muzaffarabad, the capital of PoK, are excited about the new bus service. Most of them have not met their relatives, who live across the border in India, because of the long time it takes to secure a visa. "I am very happy and even if they allow me to go on foot I will not waste any time," said 66-year-old shopkeeper Abdus Sattar, who hails from Magam village in Jammu and Kashmir. Hafiza Bano is very excited because she has never visited her family in Srinagar after she moved to Muzaffarabad in 1980 after getting married. "I called my mother and she was crying. She wants me to take the first bus home. I hope the bus service starts without any problem," she said. Shopkeeper Ziauddin Pirzada also supported the agreement. "I am excited. It is a positive effort to help divided families meet," he said. However, Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin said the bus service will not improve the plight of the Kashmiris. "The bus is a failed effort to put ointment on the wounds of Kashmiris," he said. Hizb spokesman Salim Hashmi also said the agreement is not significant. "It [the agreement] does not carry any importance to the Mujahideen and the freedom of Kashmiris," he told the local daily Dawn. Also read:
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