On Rakshabandhan this year, a bus service will resume between Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir and Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The decision taken by the Jammu and Kashmir government has been conveyed to the Ministry of Home Affairs. A senior ministry official has been quoted as saying that the decision was taken keeping in mind the fact that there may be some people on both sides who want celebrate the festival.
The ‘Karvan-e-Aman’ bus service, which will resume on August 7, had been halted earlier this year in May after a message from Pakistan said that there will be a holiday on the account of 14th death anniversary of the founding President of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir Sardar Mohammad Ibrahim Khan.
The resumption of the cross-Line of Control weekly bus service has been decided by mutual consent. The bus service started on April 7, 2005, and runs twice a week. However, the passengers taking the service has seen a substantial dip in the last year due to rising tensions along the border.
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The bus service has helped several families who were victims of partition in 1947 to meet each other after. Those taking the bus service do not need an international passport instead residents from both states need to take travel permits.
The cross border trade that had also been suspended will also resume on August 8, the state government informed the Ministry on Thursday. Trade along the Line of Control had been suspended on the Uri-Salamabad post on July 21 after nearly 60 kg of drugs were recovered from a truck at Trade Facilitation Centre (TFC) in Uri.
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Trade was also suspended on the Poonch-Chakkan Da Bagh post because of heavy shelling. The workers deployed at the post had refused to report to duty after which the trade had to be suspended on that post.
(Source: NDTV)
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