Friday, February 18 2005 17:36 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: Sharp divisions have emerged among the Opposition parties in Pakistan over the Indo-Pak agreement to run the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service with some hailing it as a step towards boosting the peace process while some others calling it an "untimely decision" and a "ploy" to sideline the Kashmir issue.

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto-led PPP (Pakistan Peoples Party) along with pro-Taliban Jamat Ulema Islami-F (JUI-F) have hailed the bus service while Jamat-e-Islami (JI) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) headed by exiled former Premier Nawaz Sharif criticised the Pakistani Government alleging that it was showing excessive flexibility.

Both PPP and PML-N are dominant partners of the moderate Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) which is opposed to President Pervez Musharraf while JUI-F and JI are part of the Islamic alliance Muttahida Majlis-e Amal (MMA).

Bhutto, in a statement yesterday (Feb 17, 2005), welcomed the decision to launch the bus service from April 7 as a step towards boosting the peace process, but her ally PML-N has called it an "untimely decision".

JUI-F, headed by the leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Fazlur Rehman, said it regarded the bus service as a "victory" of Pakistan's viewpoint on the status of Kashmir while JI saw it as a "ploy" to sideline the Kashmir problem.

Bhutto said the bus service would help alleviate the sufferings of divided Kashmiri families and also promote the prospects of safe and open borders in South Asia.

"Safe and open borders in South Asia, without prejudice to the Kashmir dispute, can help build tension-free relations with India," she said, adding that cordial ties could help set the stage for SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries to move towards a common market on the pattern of the European Union.

PML-N secretary-general Iqbal Zafar Jhagra was quoted by the local daily 'Dawn' as saying his party believed that Pakistan was showing too much flexibility while announcing various confidence-building measures with India.

He claimed that the decision to launch the bus service would be short-lived and the service would be stopped after the change of Government in Pakistan.

He said the Kashmir issue could only be resolved when there is an elected Government in Pakistan.

JI chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed, who is also the MMA president, in a statement opposed the bus service and termed the agreement a "ploy" to ignore the Kashmir issue.

However, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a senior leader of the JUI-F, said the bus service has vindicated Pakistan's position on Kashmir.