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Srinagar, June 15, 2013 (PPI-OT): In occupied Kashmir, the Chairman of All Parties Hurriyet Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, has said that the puppet administration is subjecting the passengers of Cross-LoC bus service to inhuman treatment at Kamanpost and Salamabad facilitation points.
The APHC Chairman addressing a gathering in Srinagar asked the puppet authorities to stop the bus service or ease out formalities. “We strongly condemn the treatment meted out to these passengers and convey in strong terms to Government of India to stop this bus service forthwith if there is no seriousness to ensure hassle free travel,” he said.
He said that the passengers from occupied Kashmir were being denied even basic facilities at Kamanpost and Salamabad facilitation points. “They are subjected to humiliation and inhuman treatment at these so-called facilitation centres which have been turned into a garrison, he said.
“When the bus service was started we wholeheartedly welcomed the move as it will have provided opportunity for divided families on both side of LoC to meet each other. However, the continuous practice of subjecting the passengers to go through complicated formalities and denial of even basic facilities at these facilitation centers clearly points out that this so-called Confidence Building Measures (CBM) is aimed to hoodwink the international community,” he said.
Elaborating further, the Mirwaiz said, the passengers including children, women and aged from Muzaffarabad and others parts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir have to wait in long queues at these facilitation centers for hours together.
“Despite prior clearance from authorities here, these passengers are paraded like criminals and forced to fill up at least six complicated forms at these facilitation centres. Though these passengers reach this side of Kashmir in afternoon, they are virtually detained at these facilitation centres till evening without offering even a glass of water,” he said.
The Cross-LoC bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad was started in April 2005, as part of CBMs between Pakistan and India to allow the divided families living on either side of Line of Control to meet each other.
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