Premier launches first train service for troubled Kashmir
Right track: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, (3-R) wearing a blue turban, flagging off Kashmir's first-ever train, as Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav (R), joins him, on the outskirts of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir yesterday. Picture: EPA
Sunday, October 12, 2008
INDIA'S prime minister yesterday launched Kashmir's first train service, the fruit of an eight-year project that overcame tough terrain and rebel strife, on a visit overshadowed by violence.
Security was tight as Manmohan Singh flagged off the first train to travel along a new 117-kilometre line which it is hoped will help transform the volatile region.
"Our intention is that the future of Kashmir should be socially, economically and politically bright," he said in a pre-launch message.
Singh launched the service from Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar, where two Muslims were killed Friday in police shootings on anti-India demonstrators protesting his visit to the revolt-hit region.
Thousands of police and paramilitary soldiers patrolled Srinagar's streets as shops, schools and offices shut down after separatists and trade unions called a two-day strike to protest the prime minister's visit.
The track links Baramulla town in the north with Qazigund in the south and should eventually be integrated into India's massive national rail network. For the moment, only a 66-kilometre stretch is ready to be used.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and federal railways minister Lalu Prasad Yadav were also present during the tightly-guarded ceremony.
Officials said the new Kashmir trains would be guarded against possible attacks by anti-Indian rebels.
"We have set up a separate railway police force wing to guard the railway assets and passengers," police chief Kuldeep Khuda said.
The 20-billion-rupee ($682 million) rail project was started in 2000 and involved thousands of engineers and labourers who had to contend with tough Himalayan weather especially in winter and rugged terrain.
They also had to work under high security, given the near-constant threat of attack by rebels who have been waging an armed struggle against Indian rule since 1989.
The track will have nine stations and a pair of air-conditioned trains with large windows to provide a view of Kashmir's celebrated mountain scenery.
AFP
Security was tight as Manmohan Singh flagged off the first train to travel along a new 117-kilometre line which it is hoped will help transform the volatile region.
"Our intention is that the future of Kashmir should be socially, economically and politically bright," he said in a pre-launch message.
Singh launched the service from Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar, where two Muslims were killed Friday in police shootings on anti-India demonstrators protesting his visit to the revolt-hit region.
Thousands of police and paramilitary soldiers patrolled Srinagar's streets as shops, schools and offices shut down after separatists and trade unions called a two-day strike to protest the prime minister's visit.
The track links Baramulla town in the north with Qazigund in the south and should eventually be integrated into India's massive national rail network. For the moment, only a 66-kilometre stretch is ready to be used.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and federal railways minister Lalu Prasad Yadav were also present during the tightly-guarded ceremony.
Officials said the new Kashmir trains would be guarded against possible attacks by anti-Indian rebels.
"We have set up a separate railway police force wing to guard the railway assets and passengers," police chief Kuldeep Khuda said.
The 20-billion-rupee ($682 million) rail project was started in 2000 and involved thousands of engineers and labourers who had to contend with tough Himalayan weather especially in winter and rugged terrain.
They also had to work under high security, given the near-constant threat of attack by rebels who have been waging an armed struggle against Indian rule since 1989.
The track will have nine stations and a pair of air-conditioned trains with large windows to provide a view of Kashmir's celebrated mountain scenery.
AFP
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