Kashmir Solidarity Day Sees Thousands Take to the Streets Across Pakistan
PAKISTAN – Thousands on Thursday took to the streets across Pakistan to mark the Kashmir Solidarity Day.
Rallies, and seminars were held and human chains were made in the capital Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, and other cities to mark the day, which is observed as “Kashmir Solidarity Day” since early 1990s.
Similar events were also held in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, also called “Azad or liberated Kashmir” and other cities.
The day, a national holiday, began with special prayers in the mosques for the liberation of Kashmir. A minute’s silence was observed throughout the country at 10 a.m. local time (0600GMT).
The main rally was held near the Parliament House in Islamabad, which was attended by a large number of people, including federal ministers, lawmakers, women, students, and Kashmiri leaders.
Hundreds of people formed human chain at Kohala Bridge, which connects Islamabad to the Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
The event included flag hoisting and the playing of the national anthem, with officials, community representatives and citizens in attendance.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Muzaffarabad and met with Kashmiri leadership to reaffirm Pakistan’s support to their “freedom struggle.”
In his message on the occasion, President Asif Ali Zardari reiterated Islamabad’s “steadfast moral, diplomatic and political” support for the Kashmiri people, reaffirming their “inalienable right to self-determination” as enshrined in the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.
Sharif in his message, urged the international community to play an effective role in getting the Kashmiri people their “inalienable right through a free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the UN”.
In their message, the three services chiefs “strongly” condemned “grave violations of human rights in IIOJK (illegally Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir) including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, and attempts to alter the demographic and political landscape of the region, with blatant disregard for international law”.
They reiterated that a “just and peaceful resolution” of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, in accordance with the UNSC resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people, “remains essential for lasting peace and stability in South Asia.”
There was no immediate reaction from India to statements from Pakistan about Kashmir.
Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.
Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars – in 1948, 1965 and 1971 – two of them over Kashmir.
