Srinagar- PDP president Mehbooba Mufti Friday sought resumption of the cross-Line of Control (LoC) trade and bus service in Jammu and Kashmir, saying the move would serve as a significant confidence-building measure for the people and a step towards restoring normalcy in the region.
Mufti wrote a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah saying the cross-LoC trade and travel has been the biggest confidence-building measure (CBM) ever between India and Pakistan and had opened new vistas of peacebuilding in J-K and the subcontinent that has the potential of bringing sustainable peace to the region if carried forward.
The cross-LoC bus service between Uri, in the Baramulla district of J-K, and Muzaffarabad, in PoJK, was started in 2005 and was followed by the opening of cross-LoC trade through Uri and Poonch in 2008.
However, the Centre stopped the bus service and trade in 2019 alleging that some unscrupulous and anti-national elements were using the route as a conduit for Hawala money, drugs, and weapons, under the garb of trade.
The PDP president, while addressing a press conference here over the issue, said the traders associated with the cross-LoC trade were in distress, and facing hardships.
“The traders associated with the cross-LoC trade came to meet me, they were in distress due to the closure of trade routes. Since the closure of the routes, those people are unemployed now,” Mufti said at the press conference.
Mufti alleged the traders were being “harassed” by the Income Tax Department with notices demanding tax payments for transactions that were non-monetary and did not involve any taxation at the time.
“This trade was based on a barter system and was free trade without any scope for tax that time. But, for some time now, they are being troubled by the Income Tax department. They have been facing IT raids, notices seeking GST, and demand for tax for the whole trade during all those years. Where will they get the tax?” she added.
The former chief minister of the erstwhile state of J-K appealed to the Union Home Minister to immediately intervene in the issue and have a relook at the closure of the trade.
“I have apprehensions that the IT Department may seize their properties which will not be acceptable. If the Home minister does not intervene, the consequences will not be good,” she said.
She called for the resumption of the trade as well as the bus service.
“The trade and the bus service should be resumed. The traders should be provided with banking service, communication and other things so that there is transparency. If you install body scanners, you will come to know what is in the trucks which will rule out any apprehensions of what is in the trucks,” she said.
Hundreds of families are associated with it. So, I appeal to the Home Minister to immediately intervene so that they get some relief, she added.
“It is imperative that these tax demands be withdrawn immediately to alleviate the anxieties of those affected. Furthermore, I request your good offices to consider resuming the cross-LoC trade and bus service, which would serve as a significant confidence-building measure for the people of J-K and a step towards restoring normalcy in the region,” Mufti said in the letter to Shah.
The PDP chief said there is no better way to bring two Kashmirs together and address the issues in J-K.
It can be a huge CBM if it is taken to the next step, Mufti said.
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