This bus must roll

Getting the Srinagar bus rolling on the road to Muzaffarabad was never expected to be easy. But then, the stakes too could not have been muc...

Getting the Srinagar bus rolling on the road to Muzaffarabad was never expected to be easy. But then, the stakes too could not have been much higher. Reviving traffic and contact on the old Srinagar-Rawalpindi road became, in effect, a test of sincerity on the part of the governments of India and Pakistan to overthrow decades of accumulated maximalism to give salience to the peace process. It was as simple as this. To get agreement on procedures for travel across the Line of Control, both countries were asked to give primacy to each other8217;s concerns over fidelity to long-voiced rhetoric. It promised, in return, visible proof that dialogue and adjustment could deliver results, that they could bring tangible benefits to people on both sides of the border. In the end, New Delhi and Islamabad pulled it off. Today two buses 8212; one from Muzaffarabad, the other from Srinagar 8212; should cross each other on this high road. But the work for the two governments is not over. Securing this bus service will require enormous tenacity and cooperation.

The suicide attack on the State Road Transport Corporation office in Srinagar on Wednesday must serve as a reality check of the changing matrix of the peace process. The terrorists8217; plan is clear. Thwarting the bus service is key to re-igniting the kind of alienation that gives them and their cause oxygen. Alienation between the people and the government and alienation between the two governments. Therefore, the targeting of passengers 8212; ordinary folks desiring nothing more than a few days with relatives and friends separated by history and bilateral hostilities. Therefore, the projection of drivers scheduled to ply the inaugural service as high-profile targets. The onus is on the two governments 8212; to provide security and to do what can be done to restrain militants, as the case may be 8212; to ensure smooth passage today, and in every subsequent run. Keeping the bus running, giving confidence to passengers that cross-LoC visits will be safe 8212; these challenges will not melt away instantly.

Ever since the peace process was revived two Aprils ago, realisation has dawned that India and Pakistan have acquired a stake in normalisation 8212; the stakes may be different, but for both they are intimately connected to national aspirations. Today, when a new border crossing opens, we will have consolidated a major gain. Forget the terrorist8217;s and the hardliner8217;s angst. This day belongs to fifty men and women travelling to be among friends, old and new.