By Shazia Yousuf
SRINAGAR, Indian-held Kashmir
The trade between two parts of Kashmir held by India and Pakistan was suspended Saturday after Indian Police arrested a truck driver Friday for allegedly carrying 305 packets of contraband narcotics.
According to the Indian police, the narcotic contraband was hidden inside a fruit truck that crossed the Line of Control from the Pakistani side at Uri into northern Indian-held Kashmir.
“We have detained a Pakistani driver, Syed Anayat Hussain, a resident of Muzaffarabad, after we recovered 305 packets of narcotics contraband from his truck,” Deputy Inspector General of Indian Police, Gareeb Das, said.
“The packets, each weighing 10-15 grams containing narcotic substance, were very carefully kept in the orange boxes in the truck,” Das added.
He said that the police had registered a case against the driver and also apprehended three persons in Indian-held Kashmir for whom the consignment was sent.
“We have moved fast and are carrying out investigations,” Das said.
The trade over the Line of Control began as a confidence building measure between India and Pakistan over Kashmir in 2008, and since then it has been suspended multiple times over various issues between the two archrival neighbors.
While 22 truck drivers crossed over from the Pakistani side over to the Indian side this morning with various items, driver Hussain was detained and taken to the police station.
The 21 other Pakistani drivers are waiting for the Indian police to release Hussain. The drivers and the Pakistani authorities have made it clear that they won't return till the detained driver was also sent back with them.
Also, 50 Kashmiri drivers from the Indian-held Kashmir are stuck in the Pakistan-held Kashmir.
While drivers are worried about the standoff, Kashmiri traders on both sides involved in the trade are hoping for the trade to resume soon as they have fruits and vegetables to sell.
“We have 300 trucks laden with fruits and vegetables mostly and all of them are perishable items. If the trade remains suspended as it did last year, it will be a big loss to us,” Hilal Turki, Secretary of the Salamabad Traders Association, told AA.
Last year, on Jan. 17, the trade was suspended for over three weeks after Indian police arrested a driver from the Pakistani side for allegedly smuggling 114 kilograms of brown sugar into Indian-held Kashmir. For three weeks, 75 Kashmiri drivers remained stuck on the other side till trade was resumed and the drivers were exchanged on Feb. 12.
Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. The two countries have fought three full-fledged wars -- in 1948, 1965 and 1971 -- since they were partitioned in 1947, two of which were fought over Kashmir.
Since 1989, Kashmiri resistance groups in Indian-held Kashmir have been fighting against the Indian rule for independence or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.
More than 70,000 people have reportedly been killed in the conflict so far.
www.aa.com.tr/en
