A day after India and Pakistan decided to open five crossing points on the Line of Control, the Hurriyat doves formally decided to send a delegation to Muzaffarabad.The doves’ decision came in the wake of similar moves by the faction led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani. The hawks have already applied for papers for their 16-member delegation.The JKLF chairman, Yaseen Malik, is already in Pakistan.Separatist leader Shabir Shah also has similar plans.‘‘I will certainly go to commiserate with the quake-affected brethren in Muzaffarabad. They have always stood by us. Now it is our turn to help them,’’ Shah told The Indian Express.The Hurriyat chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, had already said that the Hurriyat would go to Muzaffarabad after Id. But the priority, he said, should be given to divided families.Calling the decision to open the LoC a ‘‘positive and a good confidence building measure (CBM)’’ the Mirwaiz said, ‘‘all these (CBMs) are part of a gradual process which will lead to permanent resolution of Kashmir.’’The Mirwaiz also underlined the need to make the crossing points in LoC a permanent feature and stressed on the need to ease modalities for travel to Kashmiris.‘‘Police and CID verifications take months. India and Pakistan should come up with an easier travel documents for the quake-hit people,’’ he said.There are others in the queue for Muzaffarabad as well — including some former militant commanders.Zafar Abdul Fateh, a former Divisional Commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, said he was eager to take hundreds of volunteers.‘‘We have huge human resources familiar with the tracks and the terrain. We will help our brethren to rebuild their homes,’’ he said in a press conference in Srinagar.Former JKLF vice-president Javed Ahmad Mir has appealed to the state’s professionals to go to Muzaffarabad as well. ‘‘Doctors, engineers and other skilled persons should be allowed to visit Pakistani Kashmir. They would help in the rebuilding effort,’’ he said.
