Date:20/06/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/06/20/stories/2006062003871300.htm

National

An event they waited for decades

Luv Puri

Bus service promises to reunite families

Sonia Gandhi, Pranab Mukherjee, Ghulam Nabi Azad to attend flagging-off ceremony today

One cannot even make a telephone call across the LoC

Ajote (Line of Control): Mohammad Hussian's dream, nurtured for decades, of being united with his family living across the Line of Control, may get fulfilled soon with the start of the Poonch-Rawalakot bus service on Tuesday.

The trans LoC service is eagerly awaited by people living in these far-flung areas of the hilly belt.

The flagging-off ceremony for the fortnightly bus service would be attended by United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Mohammad Hussian, like many others in the neighbouring villages of Poonch, has a relative across the LoC. The importance of the bus service for Mr. Hussian is apparent from the risks he had undertaken in his lifetime to meet relatives across the LoC.The wounds on his arm, when he was hit by a rocket shell during the 1965 India-Pakistan war, bear testimony to one such endeavour. Mr. Hussian last met his brother in 1965, when he volunteered to help the Army in the Poonch sector as a porter. The war led to the capture of the Haji Peer mountains, and as a special reward for his bravery he was allowed to meet his brother who lived in the same belt.

That reunion was short-lived as the two countries' forces withdrew behind the pre-war border in accordance with the Tashkent agreement.

Now, Mr. Hussian is aware of the changing relations between India and Pakistan. "I hope this peace would be everlasting," he said.

There is palpable excitement among thousands of other families in the area.

The Poonch-Rawalakot road has not got enough attention due to its remoteness.

But the road's enormous potential becomes apparent as one travels along the LoC in Poonch district. The road unites the maximum number of divided families in the State sharing a common language and culture.

In Ajote, the last village near the LoC, every family wants to board the bus to Rawalakot, a picturesque Pakistan-occupied Kashmir town that is often compared to Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir.