Mirwaiz tells PM please remove roadblocks in way of our bus to Pak

Earlier, J-K Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed too said that any travel by Hurriyat beyond PoK would not be in keeping with the understanding reached between India and Pakistan.

Speaking from the pulpit of the grand Jamia mosque, Mirwaiz urged New Delhi not to erect roadblocks but help in facilitating the historic bus trip. Five moderate Hurriyat leaders and 17 members of the JKLF intend to travel on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus on June 2.

The hardline Hurriyat faction, led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, will hold a meeting this weekend to decide whether they should board the bus. Coining the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road as Shahraye-Mahajare-Millat, Mirwaiz asked the Centre to shun rigidity and involve Kashmiris in a purposeful dialogue process. He said New Delhi should encourage this ‘‘rare opportunity of strenghtening the dialogue process by posturing flexibility’’.

Earlier, Mirwaiz’s group had collected five application forms for the travel. ‘‘The applications will be filled tomorrow,’’ said a Hurriyat leader.

Srinagar’s Regional Pasport Officer L S Ramalu said they distributed more than 30 applications forms to the separatists. He declined comment when he was asked whether the Hurriyat leaders would be able to complete the formalities within a week. In New Delhi, the government clarified that the applications of Hurriyat leaders would have to undergo set procedures like all other applications.

The government said it would treat the applications on a case-by-case basis and was in no position to fix a timeframe for completing the verification formalities.

‘‘I don’t have a fixed figure on that… it depends on how quickly the verification can be in each particular case. This may vary,’’ said the MEA spokesperson.

‘‘What is applicable here is an explicit understanding between the two countries. So, any other thing would be contrary to this understanding,’’ the spokesperson. said

Giving details of the procedure to be followed for travel by the bus, he said the applications of passengers submitted to the RPO, Srinagar, will be subjected to due verification on the Indian side to establish the bonafides of the traveller.

The verified form would then be passed on to Muzaffarabad through the immigration control point at the LoC to decide on acceptability of the traveller. Thereafter, due verification is carried out on the Pakistan side before a list of persons cleared for travel is sen back to Srinagar.

The permit indicates the number of days and places for the visit. There is also a requirement of police reporting by every passenger.

Under the agreement, all citizens of India and Pakistan can use this route for travel within the territory of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, including Gilgit and Baltistan.