Cross-LoC trade suspension enters fifth day - The Times of India
SRINAGAR: The cross-Line of Control (LoC) trade between India and Pakistan continued to be suspended for the fifth day on Wednesday.
It was suspended after Pakistani authorities detained 27 Kashmiri drivers on Friday in retaliation to the arrest of a Pakistani driver, who was found carrying brown sugar in his truck.
Baramulla deputy commissioner G A Khwaja expressed his helplessness and said Pakistanis were demanding the driver's release. "The kin of the drivers have been visiting my office every day," he said. "But we are helpless and can only console them." Khwaja hoped intervention at the higher level could end the impasse.
Officials said Pakistan has even refused to allow their 29 trucks, which had crossed over to India on Friday, to return
The relatives of the drivers have expressed concern over their continued detention. "We are worried. What crime has my brother committed?" asked Gulzar Ahmad Reshi, whose younger brother, Tanvir Ahmad Reshi, is among the drivers.
He said Tanvir used to transport tomatoes to PoK and it was his third visit across the LoC. "My parents have not had food since Friday when they heard about Tanvir's detention," he said. "We visited Salamabad and got his cloths and other belongings which he was supposed to deposit before crossing over."
His mother, Saria Begum, said she would not touch food till she sees her 35-year-old son and the father of a two-year-old.
Divisional commissioner (Kashmir) Shalendar Kumar said PoK trade director general trade, a retired army officer, claimed the drivers too have diplomatic immunity and the arrested driver be freed and handed over along with the seized brown sugar consignment.
The Pakistani driver, Shafiq Awan, has been booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. He was supposed to be carrying almonds when brown sugar in 148 bags worth Rs 114 crore was recovered from his truck. This was the second such recovery since the cross-LoC trade started in 2008.
Industrialist Shakeel Qalandar said the recovery should not be used as an excuse to halt the trade. "Latest machinery must be utilized to detect such activities. It should not lead to suspension of trade which is an important CBM between the two countries."