NEW DELHI (AFP) - Pakistan has denied permission to a group of Indian politicians who wanted to travel with the maiden bus to Pakistan-administered Kashmir, reports said.The Press Trust of India news agency Friday quoted unnamed government sources saying that the Indian request had been rejected.“Communication was received from Pakistan denying the permission to eight politicians from mainstream Indian political parties to travel,” the news agency reported the sources as saying.Earlier this week, India’s foreign office asked the Pakistani government to grant permission to a group of eight senior politicians to travel in a separate bus along with the inaugural Kashmir bus.
Kashmiri politicians expressed deep disappointment at the “unhappy development”, PTI said.“Our aim was not to politicise the historic event but to represent the people of Jammu and Kashmir across the border,” said Kashmir’s main opposition National Conference chief Omar Abdullah, according to PTI.“I can’t understand the rationale behind Pakistan’s decision,” he said.Abdullah had hoped to travel on the bus along with party colleague Abdul Rahim Rather, People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti, Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Mangat Ram Sharma and several key Kashmiri politicians.
The bus is scheduled to operate from April 7 between Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, and Muzaffarabad, the administrative headquarters of the Pakistani zone of Kashmir.The bus has been hailed not only as a historic boost to peace between the two nuclear rivals but also as a way of reuniting families divided for nearly six decades.Militant groups earlier this week labelled the bus a “coffin” and urged Kashmiris to shun the service.They also released a list of those whose names have been cleared by the Indian government to travel on the inaugural bus – sparking fears individuals could be targetted in their homes. The bus service was suspended in 1947 after the first India-Pakistan war over Kashmir.
