Poonch, June 8
Getting visa for travelling to Pakistan occupied Kashmir is much easier than managing a permit for crossing over through any border checkpoints opened as a part of the confidence-building measures between India and Pakistan.

In fact, a large number of people who have their relatives across the border, after the roads between the two countries were opened, were hoping that permits will make their travel to PoK much easier, but that never proved to be the case. A few of them who kept on waiting for months together for travel permits have finally applied for visa. They, after getting the visa, crossed over to PoK and have returned, but were yet to get the travel permits.

Nargis Khatoon Rizvi, wife of Haidar Sheikh of Mandi, applied for permit in 2005 to travel through the Uri-Muzaffarabad road to meet his cousin, Murtaza Hussain Rizvi, who went to live in the Tehsil Baag of PoK in 1965. She says after waiting for the travel permit for more than six months, she applied for visa in March, 2006, and got it in a month’s time.

“After getting the visa, I crossed over to Pakistan through the Wagah border on April 13, 2006, and after staying there for about five months, I returned”, says Nargis Khatoon. “Even though, I have travelled to Pakistan on visa, I am yet to get the permit, I applied for in 2005”.

In Kashmir also, there have been several cases where people after waiting for travel permits had applied for visa and even returned, but were yet to get these.

Sources reveal that getting permission for travelling across through the opened border points is not an easy task as it involves innumerable verifications done by both Indian and Pakistani agencies.

Muhammad Younus of Qazi Mora is trying to fulfil his ailing mother Gulab Begum’s wish of meeting her nephews Akbar Hussain and Muhammad Aazam living at Taroti of Darra Sangna Abbas Pur tehsil in Rawlakote. Younus applied for travel permit in April 2006, but has not been granted permission as yet. Now, he is willing to apply for visa rather than wait for travel permit.