ASSEMBLY POLL '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS '98
ARCHIVES

Bus to Lahore causes blood to boil in Pak

The bus to Lahore left on its final dry run Friday morning amidst tight security.

The Ashok Leyland luxury carrier, with 30 officials of the Central and Delhi governments, started off a little after its scheduled departure at 0600 hours its 14-hour 500-km journey.

In the background of the threat by Shiv Sainiks block the bus, a strong security ring had been thrown. Before passengers boarded the bus, policemen frisked them and checked their luggage.

The states through which the bus passes will provide security, sources said. From Delhi, it will enter Haryana and then travel through Punjab before entering Pakistan. Almost the entire journey will be on Indian soil.

Meanwhile in Lahore, hundreds of militant Muslims waving flags protested against the service.

Gathered outside the grand white-marble Shuada mosque, they warned Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief to stop the service or ''we will forcibly stop it.''

The bus service is an attempt to improve relations between India and Pakistan.

Demonstrators, all belonging to the right wing Jamaat-e-Islami, said they wanted no part of a friendship with India.

They accused Sharief of selling out the militants waging a bloody secessionist uprising in Kashmir.

''We will never allow Nawaz Sharief to start this bus service," said Jamaat-e-Islami leader Liaqat Baluch. ''This is part of an American agenda. It will send a message to Kashmiri freedom fighters that Islamabad will not support them.''

Baluch said his activists would not disrupt the inaugural service but if a second trip is attempted ''We will have no choice but to stop it by force.''

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report