Minister pulls all stops to board train to Pakistan
Thar Exp stops at Munabao to pick up Amin Khan
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) bending backwards for Amin Khan, Rajasthan Minister for Minority Affairs, allowing him to board the Thar Express train from Munabao, has kicked up a row.
Thar Express, the friendship running between India and Pakistan, stops at Munabao, the last railway station on the Indian side of the international border in Barmer district, for security check. However, passengers are not allowed to board it from there.
Residents of Barmer and Jaisalmer travel several hundred kilometres to board the train from the previous station, Bhagat ki Kothi in Jodhpur, from where the train originates.
On Saturday, Khan boarded the train from Munabao to visit his in-laws at Gogasar in Pakistan. According to the minister, the MHA has given special permission to him to board the train from Munabao. “The Ministry of Home Affairs acceded my request for boarding the train from Munabao,” he said. “I reside near Munabao, so I made a request as there is no point travelling 700 km to Jodhpur to board the train when it passes from here and stops here for security check.”.
But why is this rule not applicable to others, asks Harish Chaudhary, the area Member of Parliament, who has been demanding a stoppage for the train at Munabao for long.
The minister, who represents the Shiv Assembly constituency in Barmer district, demanded that the MHA should reconsider its rules on boarding and alighting the train at Munabao.
It has been a long-standing demand of residents of Barmer to allow them to board the train from Munabao. Chaudhary has raised the issue several times in the past, but in vain.
The weekly train starts from Jodhpur every Friday night and reaches Munabao on Saturday morning. The train is especially popular among the Muslim community residing near the border areas of both countries.
Several families have relatives on the other side of the border. Khan too is going to attend a condolence meet of his brother-in-law in Gogasar, hardly four kilometres from the international border.
