In April 2005, the most important confidence building measure between India and Pakistan was the start of Srinagar-Muzaffarabad Bus Service. It was for the first time since the establishment of a ceasefire line in 1947 (present LOC or the line of control) that people were allowed to cross from both the sides. Even though the Buses did not actually cross because of the narrow bridge on Jhelum and the travel was through transhipment, yet the event received worldwide coverage. It was hailed as a breach in the Sub-continents Berlin Wall. The Bus was started on a fortnightly basis with 30 odd passengers travelling from either side. The travel of the first Bus was telecast live. The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh flagged it off from Srinagar. Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, the then Chief Minister had himself gone to LOC to receive the first batch of visitors from the Pakistan Administered Kashmir. There was euphoria all round and people expected that the decades old problem was on way to resolution. Some of the relations on two sides of the divide travelling by the Bus had met after 60 years or so. The measure was the beginning of détente between India and Pakistan which had been initiated by Atal Behari Vajpayee by extending a hand of friendship to Pakistani leadership from Kashmir. I was in Dubai at the time of the said event. In fact, I wrote an article on the subject for Khaleej Times which was prominently published on its International page. The event was hailed every where as a major achievement. One had hoped that the frequency of the Bus would be increased with the passage of time and it would become a daily phenomenon. In three years not more than 3,000 people have been able to utilise the facility. Normally, people should have been by now travelling in their own transport as happens in many countries of the Middle East or Europe. However, nothing of the sort has happened and the Bus has now been almost forgotten by the common people. On the contrary, the procedure for getting on to the bus and the travel on it has been rather a confidence “shaking” measure for the “lucky” ones! Recently some friends of our relations in Islamabad, Pakistan, travelled on the Bus. It had taken them six months to get clearance for travelling. In some cases, the wait has been as long as two years or so. Incidentally, only relations on either side are allowed to travel by the Bus. Common Kashmiris on two sides of the divide not related to each other are not allowed. The procedure to get on the Bus is very lengthy. After applying to the Passport Office, the application is sent to different intelligence agencies for verification of antecedents. In addition to checking the records, field verification is also carried out. Once the clearance is given, the application is sent across the line of control for a similar verification on that side. As soon as green signal is given for travel then the applicant comes on a waiting list for travel.

The actual travel itself is tiring and quite long. The friends who recently came on the Bus had started at 6 am in Muzaffarabad. They reached Chakoti at 8 am. Till 12 noon, the Pakistani authorities completed their verification procedures at the line of control and they crossed the line at 12.30 pm. On this side the Indian authorities completed their procedures by 3 pm when they finally left for Srinagar. They reached Srinagar at 7.30 pm. A normal drive of three and a half hours took them thirteen and a half hours and they were really tired when they reached their destination! These people told me that in the past they would travel through Wagah border. Those days they would start from Lahore at around 7 am and would be in Amritsar by 11 am. They would take a direct flight from Amritsar to Srinagar and would reach their destination by 2.30 pm or so without any problem. Incidentally, the Amritsar flight has since been discontinued.

Two years back, I too had to travel in an emergency from Srinagar to Islamabad. My sister in Islamabad had to undergo emergency brain surgery. Luckily I had a valid Pakistani visa. I took Sahara flight from Srinagar at 1.30 pm and around 4 pm I reached the IGI International Airport wherefrom I took 6’o clock Indian Airlines flight to Lahore. From there I got a connecting PIA flight to Islamabad. After changing three flights, I reached there at 9.30 pm and the total journey took me only 8 hours. Had the Jhelum Valley Road been open, I could have driven from Srinagar to Islamabad in less than five hours. In any case, it is better to travel via Delhi than through the cross LOC Bus. Many people have opted for this alternative after getting frustrated by the wait for their turn on the Bus. In this digital age one feels pathetic after seeing the travel in European Union Countries. There are no borders at all! While driving on a motorway, one never notices the change in the jurisdiction of various countries as there is no immigration or custom among these. Only there are large overhead hoardings welcoming people from one country to the other. Even in the sub-continent itself, the things are more relaxed in other parts of the Indo-Pak border. The Delhi-Lahore Bus, the Samjhuta Express, and the flights between the two countries are more smooth than the cross LOC Bus.

Next comes the voice communication CBM. One can directly dial any spot on this planet and with some connections one can even talk to astronauts in the space station. However, it is not possible to dial any number across the LOC or in any part of Pakistan from Kashmir. In contrast, the people from across can easily call anyone in any part of the State. The recent concession is the availability of a Delhi based operator with whom one can book calls for numbers on the other side. It takes sometimes pretty long time for these calls to mature.

The most widely publicised CBM which is still to fructify is the cross LOC Trade. For almost three years one has been fed on the statements from various quarters including some Central Ministers that the cross LOC trade is round the corner. One has been waiting for a long time to see convoys of goods trucks crossing with merchandise. It is very nostalgic to recall the historical transport company, Allied Chirag Din which used to operate Bus and Truck services from Lal Chowk in Srinagar to Rawalpindi before 1947. The recent blockade of the National Highway in Jammu has made all Kashmiris to pine for those good old days. In fact, there had been a demand to open this Road for getting essential supplies. The closure of this Road has made all Kashmiris very claustrophobic and they feel not only a physical siege but a psychological one also! There are many more people centric CBMs especially those related to human rights, which were never implemented. In fact, during all these years the attitude of both the countries has shaken the confidence of the people instead of building the same. The main reason has been the trust deficit between the two countries the brunt of which has been faced by the unfortunate people of this State. The first requirement is to restore trust between the two countries and their trust on the people of Kashmir on both sides. This has to be left to the political leaders of the two sides instead of their intelligence apparatuses which are inherently prejudiced against each other. The breach in the sub-continent’s Berlin Wall has failed to become a flood. In fact it could not even develop into a trickle. The widely touted measures instead of building confidence seem to have shaken it especially in the sincerity of the two countries in solving the vexed Kashmir problem!