Despite strike, Karvan-e-Aman bus leaves to cross over to PoK

Srinagar, Oct 9: Despite strike called by separatists against braid chopping incidents in the Kashmir valley, the weekly Karvan-e-Aman bus, operating between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), left here on Monday morning to cross over to the other side of Line of Control (LoC) in Uri sector. The bus left from here in the morning for Kaman post, the last Indian military post on this side of the LoC despite strike, official sources told UNI. The bus, carrying two Kashmiri women and 26 PoK returnees has since reached Trade Facilitation Centre (TFC), Uri. However, the exact number of passengers travelling to other side of LoC in the bus will be known only in the afternoon. Similarly, the number of those travelling from PoK will also be known in the evening, they said. The weekly bus service was a Confidence Building Measure (CBM) taken by India and Pakistan to allow families divided due to partition in 1947 to meet each other. Despite opposition by militant outfits, the first bus was flagged off by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on April 7, 2005. Almost all separatist leaders, barring chairman of hardline Hurriyat Conference (HC) Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) chief Shabir Ahmad Shah, have travelled in the bus to other side of the border. The bus has helped thousands of divided families to meet each other since their separation in 1947. However, only state subjects from both sides are eligible to travel in the peace bus provided their names are cleared by the intelligence agencies from both the countries. UNI