The Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service, which was temporarily suspended last week in the wake of the violence over the Amarnath land row, resumed on Thursday with 61 passengers leaving for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in four buses. Officials said out of the 61 passengers, 58 were returning home to Muzaffarabad.The bus service was flagged off by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on April 7, 2005 soon after New Delhi and Islamabad decided to re-open the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road and was termed Karavan-e-Aman (caravan of peace). On August 11, a massive rally protesting the “economic blockade” of Kashmir marched to Muzaffarabad demanding a free ride for people and goods along the highway. The rally was halted at Chahal by a heavy contingent of the police and CRPF. Six protestors, including senior Hurriyat leader Sheikh Abdul Aziz, were killed at Sangrama and Chahal along the highway. Following the incident, the bus service was temporarily stopped. According to officials, Thursday’s service was arranged in order to clear the backlog of the last week. They said the bus would also ply as scheduled on August 28.“It is the greatest thing that has ever happened to us for a long long time,” Abdul Rashid Banihali said from the half-open window of the bus. “We have been split from our family since 1947. My uncle lived there and we met him just three months ago”. Banihali is accompanied by his father Prof Abdul Waheed and two other family members. Waheed’s brother had died two weeks ago.(With PTI)
