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Bus service could pose security problems: RSS

By Onkar Singh in New Delhi
February 24, 2005 18:37 IST

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has expressed reservations about the proposed bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir from April 7.

Addressing a news conference in New Delhi on Thursday, RSS spokesman Ram Madhav said allowing travel on permits instead of passports amounted to softening of India's stand on PoK.

He claimed the service would have serious security implications and asked the Government of India to reconsider the decision.

"By passing a resolution in Parliament in 1994 we had staked our claim on Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. How can the government take a decision that would negate this resolution?...This amounts to admitting that Kashmir is a disputed area. What is more surprising is that the government did not deem it fit to hold discussions with the opposition parties on this delicate matter," he said.

Stating that the RSS supported the government's efforts to restore a democratic government in Nepal, he criticised its decision to stop defence aid to the Himalayan state by stating that it did not want to deal with King Gyanendra.

He said India should help Nepal to fight Maoist terror, which could have its fallout in Indian states. "How can we say that we will not deal with the kingship [in Nepal] when the chief guest at our Republic Day celebrations was the king of Bhutan?"

Madhav said the happenings in Nepal are internal matters and 'we are no one to say what should happen there'.

Onkar Singh in New Delhi

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