Oct 12 , 2015
News
India cancels Samjhauta Express service again
LAHORE - Indian railway authorities have once again cancelled the Samjhauta Express which was scheduled to depart from Lahore on Monday.
Sources told that relevant authorities have forwarded a message that protests in India have yet not finished therefore; the train should not be sent. Previously, Samjhauta Express was denied entry into India from Wagah station on October 8. The Indian authorities asked Pakistan Railways to offload passengers and not to send the train as they cannot guarantee security after protests staged by farmers in Indian Punjab.
They said the protestors could turn into a violent mob and even set the train to fire. Resultantly, the train returned to Lahore after being stuck onto the station for seven hours. On the contrary, Indian media reported that the rail services were hit at several places in Indian Punjab with farmers’ outfits starting their two-day “Rail Roko” agitation in protest against the government’s anti-farmer policies.
On October 8, as many as six trains were stopped by protesting farmers at different places, causing inconvenience to passengers. The Indian farmers in large numbers squatted on railway tracks to stop train movement. The acting deputy high commissioner of India, Raghuram was also summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by Dr Faisal, the director general (South Asia) to express concern over the cancellation of operation of Samjhauta Express.
The Government of Pakistan took all necessary steps to accommodate the stranded Indian passengers, who were not permitted to cross the border. The Foreign Office stated: “We expect the Indian side to make utmost efforts to avoid recurrence of such incidents in future and facilitate the travellers from Pakistan and India.” The cancellation caused inconvenience to more than 200 passengers from Pakistan and India.
“Samjhauta Express was among 75 trains traveling through Punjab that were cancelled due to local agitation, including rail blockade,” Indian Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said. He further said that the Indian railway authorities had informed in advance their Pakistani counterparts that the train would not be able to run in such a situation. Samjhauta Express is an international train that travels between India and Pakistan twice a week.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk