Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Nov 23: As many as five residents of Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) arrived here while two Kashmiris crossed over to the other side of the Line of Control (LoC) in the Karvan-e-Aman bus, operating between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad. Meanwhile, 19 returnees also crossed sides at Kaman post, the last Indian military post on this side of the LoC in Uri sector. Official sources today said that five PoK residents, including four women, arrived at Kaman post after crossing Aman Setu, peace bridge, on foot to meet their relatives, separated in 1947 due to the partition. They said eight Kashmiris, who had gone to PoK, returned to Srinagar after completing a stay there. They included three women and a child. Meanwhile, two Kashmiri, including a woman, crossed to the other side of the LoC to meet their relatives, sources said. As many as 11 PoK residents, including three women, who had come to Srinagar in previous bus also returned to their homes. The Karvan-e-Aman bus service has helped thousands of families, separated due to partition to meet each other after India and Pakistan agreed to allow travel of divided families, on permits instead of International passports, to meet each other since the first bus was flagged off by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on April 7, 2005. However, travel permit is issued to a person only after his or her name is cleared by intelligence agencies of both the countries |
