Kashmir Bus: Boon for Business
Pakistan Times Special Report

THE historic bus service that plies the road linking Muzaffarabad with Srinagar only carries a few dozen passengers every two weeks but it's proving a boon for businesses along the LoC.

Gas stations, hotels, shops and houses have sprouted up since the bus began operating in April, opening a land link on the Line of Control between Azad Kashmir and India held-Kashmir.

The service is limited, but it has had a powerful impact by reuniting divided families. It's also boosted Kashmiris' confidence in the peace process between South Asia's nuclear rivals and made them more willing to invest in the economy.

"The start of the bus service has ended our perpetual fears of cross-border shelling by India," said Bashir Ahmed in Chakothi. His small grocery store lies a few doors down from a school ruined by Indian artillery fire in 2002.

"Now I am hopeful that peace will last in the area," said the father of six.

Since the bus service began, Bashir said he has doubled his investment in his shop -- selling groceries and footwear -- as sales have risen.

Nearby, Munir Hussian Shah, 36, who recently set up a shop selling Kulcha, a type of wheat biscuit, reported he was also doing brisk business.

"No one would think about opening a business in Chakothi when the town was being shelled by Indian firing," he said. "Now I have no spare time from my business. I'm selling 5,000 Kulcha every day."

For years, residents of Chakothi were on the front line, virtually living under siege. Much of the town still bears the scars of the shelling, which only halted in November 2003 when the two sides agreed to a cease-fire.

Now the bazaar is bustling, and along the 60-kilometer (38-mile) road that skirts the rushing Jhelum river to the Azad Kashmir capital, Muzaffarabad, there are signs of increased commerce in every town and village.

Locals are moving more freely since the cessation of hostilities at the border, and the numbers of tourists from the rest of Azad Kashmir the scenic spots have increased.

The fortnightly bus, which travels to Srinagar in India held-Kashmir, also attracts visitors.

Al-Haj Muhammad Ashraf Qureshi, chairman of the regional Traders' Action Committee, said there had been a 20 percent increase in business along the route since the bus started.

"There would be a 100 percent increase if five or six buses run daily from Muzaffarabad and Srinagar," he said.

Pakistan and India are still a long way from resolving their dispute over Kashmir, a mountainous region and the cause of two of their three wars since receiving independence from Britain in 1947.

But the passenger bus and India's bow to allow a visit to Pakistan this month by a delegation of Kashmiri leaders for the first time in 57 years are seen as signs that they are now serious about peace.

The two governments also plan to increase the frequency of the buses and allow trucks carrying goods to travel the same route.

Malik Muhammad Imtaiz, 30, said he had set up a shop on the road two months ago, hoping that he could soon trade in goods imported from the Indian side -- like fruit, vegetables and spices -- when the truck service starts.

He said produce was cheaper in Srinagar, and travel costs would be less from India held-Kashmir-- 118 kilometers (75 miles) from Chakothi.

Officials say that a delegation of Indian traders will visit Muzaffarabad by the end of the June. Obstacles, however, remain to a further "softening" of the LoC -- still patrolled by thousands of troops.

Groups fighting for freedom from the Indian yoke oppose the bus and have allegedly threatened to sabotage it. The violance in India held-Kashmir, however continues to claim lives there almost every day.●