Kashmir Solidarity Day observed in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Kashmir Solidarity Day was observed throughout the country to express unity with the people of Occupied Kashmir in their fight against Indian subjugation.

The day (February 5th) has been observed in Pakistan since 1990 to pay homage to Kashmiri martyrs and highlight the plight for their birth right to self-determination, promised to them by the international community under the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council. The day is observed as a public holiday.

A minute silence was observed throughout the country at 10:00 AM. The Prime Minister hosted dinner in honour of prominent Kashmiri leaders in Islamabad.

Rallies, processions, seminars and photo exhibitions were also arranged by Pakistani missions abroad.

Rallies, demonstrations, human chains by men, women and children were seen at various points across the country as well as in Azad Kashmir to express solidarity with the struggling Kashmiris.

Efforts are afoot to draw the attention of the international community towards Indian atrocities and barbarities, stressing it to play role in resolution of the Kashmir issue.

Special functions were held in educational institutions to apprise the new generation with the Kashmir issue and heroic struggle of the Kashmiri nation for their rights.

President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan and AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majid have issued special messages in connection with the Kashmir Day to express solidarity with the people of occupied Kashmir.

President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday, while expressing solidarity with the Kashmiri people, said Pakistan remained firmly committed to finding a just and peaceful solution of the Kashmir dispute.

In a message on the Kashmir Solidarity Day, the president reiterated with the Kashmiri brethren, Pakistan’s political, moral and diplomatic support towards their just cause for the right of self-determination, as enshrined in the UN Charter and the relevant UN resolutions.

President Zardari also paid tributes to the valiant struggle of the Kashmiri brethren and said they had been rendering huge sacrifices in the quest for realising their inalienable right to choose their destiny by themselves.

He said the Kashmiris had remained resolute and steadfast in the face of oppression spanning over six decades. “Today, we stand in solidarity with our Kashmiri brothers and sisters.”

The president said: “Pakistan believes that the use of force, coercion and violation of basic human rights can never succeed in suppressing an indigenous struggle for a just cause. Their perseverance will bear fruit.”

Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf said that Pakistan would stand by the Kashmiris till the realisation of their demands for a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute.

“On behalf of the government and the people of Pakistan, I reaffirm Pakistan’s firm commitment to a just and peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and the protection of their fundamental rights,” the prime minister said in his message on the Kashmir Solidarity Day.

The prime minister said the Kashmir dispute had been on the agenda of the United Nations for more than six decades as an unfulfilled obligation. He said the Government of Pakistan would continue to extend its unwavering political, moral and diplomatic support to the just cause of the Kashmiri people to safeguard their right of self-determination through a free and impartial plebiscite in line with the UN Charter and UNSC resolutions and for the protection of their fundamental rights.