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Indeed, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will make history on April 7 when he flags off the first bus from Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir with the passenger bound for Muzaffarabad, the capital of the occupied territory, on the other side of the Line of Control. Backed by national consensus he would formally kick off the promise of lasting peace in the region for long bedevilled by hostilities. The significance of the bus running between two parts of the northernmost State divided by the LoC is that it would not merely facilitate the movement of the people on either side but also seriously address psychological barriers that have been created during the last more than five decades.
This bus service is described as the most significant confidence-building measure between India and Pakistan. It fits eminently into the country’s united vision for peace in a perpetually strife-torn vision. One way to achieve this objective is to encourage enhanced inter-action among human beings divided suddenly by adverse historical developments after having shared common heritage and history for centuries. As the Prime Minister himself remarked during his recent trip to Mauritius: "Our approach is that there should be freer flow of people and ideas between India and Pakistan. So our effort will be to persuade Pakistan to encourage people to people contact in the widest possible sense of the term".
In his Address to the nation on June 24, 2004, he had spelt out his philosophy for good-neighbourly relations. He had then said: "We desire to live in a neighbourhood of peace and prosperity. We will actively pursue the composite dialogue with Pakistan. We are sincere about discussing and resolving all issues, including Jammu and Kashmir. We recognise that resolution of major issues requires national consensus and accommodation of public sentiment in both countries."
Later on November 17, 2004 at a function in Srinagar the economist in Dr Singh appeared to have given way to a poet when "thinking about the future of Kashmir" he quoted Rabindranath Tagore’s celebrated lines: "Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; Where knowledge is free; where words come out from the depth of truth; Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection; Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit; Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever widening thought and action; Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake".
The reopening of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route is thus to be seen in the broader context of ushering in total normalcy and tranquility in the sub-continent. Last time this route was used was in 1947 by Pakistan for an altogether different purpose. Tearing apart the Standstill Agreement entered with Maharaja Hari Singh the newly-born Islamic nation had then pushed in its troops along with tribal invaders whose blood-stained story of murder and mayhem in Muzaffarabad, Baramulla and Srinagar in the erstwhile princely State of J&K is recorded in the gory pages of history. A betrayed and battered Maharaja had then opted for accession with India. How the United Nations Security Council intervened to enforce a cease-fire after the Indian forces entered the State following the acceptance of accession but before they could get the territories occupied by the aggressor completely vacated is only too well known. The cease-fire line that had emerged at that time is presently called the LoC.
To forget such a bloody past is not always easy. It is not surprising, therefore, that all the meaningful peace exercises undertaken by the J&K leaders and intelligentsia to bring the two neighboring countries closer — be it Sheikh Abdullah’s goodwill mission of 1964, slain Hurriyat leader Abdul Ghani Lone’s bold excursion in 2000 or a visit of journalists from this side of the LoC to the other side in 2004 made possible by the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) — have had to per force take a longer detour via Punjab (both in India and Pakistan) to reach Muzaffarabad.
With this background in view, it is to the credit of governments in India and Pakistan as well as the present generations that they are prepared to let bygones be bygones and give peace another rational and convincing chance. One encouraging sign has been that the two countries have started enhancing stratagies in a sportsman-like spirit.. Frequent cricket exchanges, for instance, have already generated a lot of friendliness. No more the actual arenas and public galleries resemble mini-war theatres whenever Indian and Pakistani players take on each other (instead, one can notice as if they are making an extra effort to establish mutual affability).
The resumption of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road is thus clearly one more step in that constructive direction. The new route would reduce the physical distance between one part of the State and the other which is under Pakistan’s control: Muzaffarabad, for instance, will be about 170 kilometres from Srinagar by this road against perhaps 1,000-odd kilometres through the Wagah border. More importantly, it holds the key to demolishing the emotional fences between the people and its experience would determine whether and when the proposed inauguration of routes between Jammu and Sialkot and elsewhere in Poonch and Mendhar becomes a reality.
What is to be attached added significance is that the entire country is behind this move (the Bharatiya Janata Party, the main opposition organisation, has objection to the travel being allowed without passports and visas but has made it known that it is not averse to the bus service itself). It would be perfectly in order to recall that all parties had extended warm support to the bus journey undertaken by Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee when he was the Prime Minister to meet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif and sign a path-breaking Lahore Declaration with him. It hardly bears any reiteration that in a democracy it becomes easy for a leader to act if he is confident of the backing of the majority of the compatriots.
Dr Manmohan Singh enjoys the same measure of public support in this behalf. Admittedly, there have been two developments so far that have cast a dark shadow. One is Pakistan’s denial of permits to mainstream politicians of J&K to join the inaugural trip. The other is threat by the militants to convert the bus into a ‘coffin’. Whatever that may be one thing is certain that those coming in the way of the bus can only invite isolation in the long run. There is no exaggeration in saying that the ordinary citizens of both the countries desire frequent and stronger contacts. They are being helped in this task by their respective governments. If they keep up these unity efforts they can considerably marginalise the opponents of peace. The Prime Minister will actually signal the strengthening of this resolve when he gives the formal go-ahead signal for the recommencement of the bus service on April 7.
*Editor, Border Affairs
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