The two-month grace period covers all types of visas, including tourist and expired residency permits
It also went to drive home the message to New Delhi and Islamabad that despite torn apart by an artificial wall; the Kashmiris remain united in spirit and resolve to find their common destiny. As the charismatic Yaseen Malik of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front pointed out in Muzaffarabad yesterday, regardless of how Indian, Pakistani and world media chooses to describe Kashmir — as Indian-administered Kashmir and Pak-administered Kashmir — the fiercely independent people of the Himalayan state cannot be divided by artificial barriers.
Yet the Kashmiri identity today faces formidable challenges. Much water has flowed down Jhelum since the Kashmiri leaders first raised the demand to visit Muzaffarabad in order to confer with Kashmiris on the other side. Today the Kashmiris are able to interact with each other thanks to the dramatic thaw in Indo-Pak relations after a gap of half a century.
The spring in Indo-Pak ties has of course contributed to bringing down barriers offering the Kashmiris the much-needed opportunity to evolve a common strategy. But there are apprehensions too that the Himalayan shift in Pakistan’s traditional position on Kashmir may lead to undermining of Kashmiri interests. Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the pro-Pakistan leader of breakaway Hurriyat, has already accused Pakistan of letting down Kashmiris.
He boycotted the Muzaffarabad visit as a mark of protest. This is not a minority view. Even the so-called moderates Mirwaiz Omer Farooq and Yaseen Malik have warned against "a sellout of the blood of 80,000 Kashmiris killed in 15 years of uprising".
Evidently the Kashmiris are genuinely worried about getting a raw deal and being left out even as India and Pakistan ‘resolve’ Kashmir between themselves. This is, as the Kashmiri leadership has persistently warned, no way of resolving the Kashmir business. No resolution of Kashmir is possible without the involvement of Kashmiris. Any solution that doesn’t have the backing of Kashmiri people cannot bring lasting peace and stability to Kashmir. Both India and Pakistan must understand this reality.
The two-month grace period covers all types of visas, including tourist and expired residency permits
Sheikh Mohamed extended his sympathies during a visit to the mourning majlis in Al Ain
According to an official, several people are still feared trapped in the debris
Amateurs Afzaal Ahmad, Parvez Ahmed, and Arbaaz Ahmad shine with an Impressive 89-point performance at the Emirates Golf Club
The Meteorological Organisation that it is closely monitoring what is being circulated on social media
There have been a series of school fires in the country in recent years, many of them which have turned out to be arson
Salama Alfalacy is into realistic art featuring landscapes and wildlife, while Meera Jamal Al Midfa is setting new grounds in performance art and filmmaking
Dubai Police have asked drivers to be extra cautious