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Tsunami & After

Schedule for Indo-Pak crossings at LoC
by Ashok Dixit

     New Delhi: India and Pakistan have agreed on a schedule of dates to allow the crossing of people and sending relief materials through the points along the LoC for November and December. Announcing the details in New Delhi, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said the dates for Teetwal-Nauseri crossing are November 19 and 26 and, December 3 and 10. For Poonch-Rawalakote, it would be November 21 and December 5. For Mendhar-Tattapani the dates are November 28 and December 12. Uri- Chakhoti crossing dates are November 17 and December 1. The Uri-Hajipur dates are November 25 and December 8.The two countries had agreed on October 29 to open five centers on the LoC to provide relief and medical assistance to quake victims from both sides of Kashmir. It was agreed that because of non-availability or damage to infrastructure on these points, crossings across the LoC would be permitted on foot.

     Meanwhile, the Minister of State for External Affairs Mr. E. Ahmad is leaving for Pakistan today to attend an international donors' conference on Saturday. The conference will discuss Pakistan's request for long-term funding for the rehabilitation and reconstruction in the earth quake affected areas. In a related development, the third relief train was dispatched to Pakistan for quake victims on Thursday. 1300 tones of relief material has so far been sent to Pakistan through trains, 48 trucks and one aircraft. As reported India has pledged 25 million US dollars as aid package to Pakistan. On Thursday, Kashmiris reunited in grief across the LoC dividing their quake-stricken homeland after arch rivals Pakistan and India relaxed border restrictions as a humanitarian gesture. Beneath Himalayan mountains, a temporary wooden footbridge has been built over a stream that divides the disputed region, enabling Kashmiris to check on surviving relatives on the other side after the devastating October 8 tremor. "I have been told that some (family members) were injured. I don't know if some have died," said Zulekha Begum, an elderly woman, as she hugged and shed tears with her relatives on the Pakistani side of the divide. Until Thursday, only relief supplies but no human traffic were allowed over the footbridge linking Chakothi and Uri on the Indian side, leaving Kashmiris aching for news of loved ones. The quake killed over 73,000 people, mostly in Pakistani Kashmir. About 1,300 people died in Indian Kashmir in the quake. "I have no news. All I have heard is that my wife and children are safe, but my house has collapsed. That is all I know, nothing else," said 72-year-old Attaullah Khawaja, his wrinkled face framed by a white beard and flat woolen cap. Thursday's crossing was mostly one-way traffic, with a total of 24 Indian Kashmiris returning home from the Pakistani side. The returning Kashmiris were all elderly, and some had to be helped down steps cut into the gorge down to the footbridge, while porters carried baggage on their heads. Eighty-three people from Indian Kashmir have been cleared to make the trip to Pakistani territory, but it was not clear on Thursday why they had not yet come across. None of the 120 people who live in Pakistani Kashmir and applied to go the other way have yet had their names cleared by the Indian authorities.

     The South Asian neighbours agreed last month to open five crossings on the militarised Line of Control to exchange relief goods, but there have been delays to letting people across. Pakistan's military says people will be allowed to cross the other four border points later this month. The United Nations wants to see the ceasefire line opened to its own aid trucks, saying it could save thousands of lives in remote mountain communities on the Pakistani side, but the two sides have yet to agree to this. The fortnightly bus service, between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad had been opened thanks to a peace process begun by India and Pakistan almost two years ago, but was suspended after the quake. Roads along the route, both sides of the border, are still being cleared of landslides in many places.