GILGIT: The body of a 28-year-old woman who had gone missing in Kargil, India-occupied Kashmir, was found in Kharmang district of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) on Wednesday.

       Kharmang DC Muhammad Jaffar said the body was retrieved from Kargil river early in the morning. The woman, Belqees Bano, was laid to rest in Kharmang. He told reporters the body could be handed over to the Indian authorities after consultations between the foreign ministries in Islamabad and New Delhi.

       The woman, an ethnic Balti, had gone missing after leaving her home in Akchamal on July 15. Kargil police had circulated a pamphlet carrying her identikit in India-occupied Kashmir and sent a copy to the GB administration. The pamphlet stated that Belqees Bano was five feet tall and clad in green clothes.

       According to an estimate, members of almost 500 divided families live in Kargil and Ladakh regions of India-occupied Kashmir, and Kharmang, Ghanche and Skardu districts of Gilgit-Baltistan.

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       The families have been calling upon the Pakistan and Indian governments to reopen the Khaplu-Ladakh and Skardu-Kargil routes so that they could meet their relatives separated from them after the 1948 and 1971 wars.

       The divided families have no option but to first travel south to the Wagah-Attari border, and from there travel in the opposite direction, to meet their loved ones. This journey is not only circuitous and grueling, but also costly and time-consuming.

       Haji Abdul Majeed, who lives in Tiaqshi on the India-controlled side, recounted his ordeal to Dawn. He had to travel 4,000km in 2014 to meet his son in Skardu. The comical side of the trek is obvious — Tiaqshi is hardly 200km from Skardu.

       “If the route between Khaplu and Ladakh is reopened, we’ll reach here in only four hours via the Frano border,” said Mr Majeed.

       Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2023