Kashmir Solidarity Day observed in Pakistan, AJK

MUZAFFARABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Monday said the entire Pakistani nation stood shoulder to shoulder with its Kashmiri brothers and sisters to support their struggle for the right to self-determination, as Kashmir Solidarity Day was observed across Pakistan and Azam Jammu and Kashmir.

“Pakistan will continue to provide moral, political and diplomatic support to its Kashmiri brothers and sisters until they realise their right to self-determination as per the UNSC resolutions,” the prime minister said during his visit to Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir on the occasion of Kashmir Solidarity Day.

Talking to the Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Chaudhry Anwarul Haque and Speaker Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly Chaudhry Latif Akbar here, PM Kakar said the final and just solution of the Kashmir issue was possible only under the free and impartial referendum according to the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the official news agency reported.

He said the Indian atrocities in Jammu and Kashmir under the illegal rule of India were not hidden from anyone and the silence of the international community on Indian atrocities on innocent Kashmiris was alarming and reprehensible.

The speaker of the Legislative Assembly and the prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir welcomed the prime minister’s visit to Muzaffarabad.

They said PM Kakar’s visit to Muzaffarabad on the occasion of Kashmir Solidaridy Day had sent a clear message to India that the hearts of Pakistani and Kashmiri brothers and sisters beat together.

People across Pakistan are observing Kashmir Solidarity Day on Monday to express their wholehearted support for the struggle of their Kashmiri brothers and sisters for their struggle against human rights violations in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

The nation led by members of the federal cabinet along with foreign delegates, civil society, and students held a solidarity march on Monday in the federal capital to mark Kashmir Solidarity Day and warned the international community of expedited Indian efforts of altering the demography and genocide of Kashmiris in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

The Kashmir Solidarity Day 2024 rally was led by Minister for National Heritage and Culture that started from the Foreign Office flanked by Foreign Secretary Muhammad Syrus Sajjad Qazi, staff and officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Minister for Religious Affairs Aneeq Ahmed Minister for Information and Broadcasting Murtaza Solangi and Minister for Privatization Fawad Hassan Fawad, students of Pakistan Sweet Homes and a large number of members of the civil society participated the rally.

The participants of the rally held placards and banners with slogans reading Freedom for Kashmir, Kashmir is Pakistan, Kashmir – the Largest Jail on Earth, Indian Apartheid of Kashmiris Unacceptable, whereas the students of Pakistan Sweet Homes hoisted flags of Pakistan and Kashmir to express solidarity with the Kashmiri people.

The rally culminated at D-Chowk near Parliament House where the government representatives also attended the rally. A one-minute silence was observed and sirens were blown on the occasion.

Addressing the rally, Convener All Parties Hurriyet Conference (APHC) Mahmood Ahmad Sagar thanked the government and the entire Pakistani nation, all political parties, non-governmental organisations and children of Pakistan Sweet Home for supporting Kashmiris on February 5.

Sagar said the IIOJK was facing 76-year long oppression that resulted in the martyrdom of 3.5 lac valiant Kashmiris struggling for freedom, whereas 2.5 lac people were massacred in 1947 in Jammu, and in the last 30 years over one lac deaths were caused in violence by Indian occupant forces that left millions orphaned and widowed along with massive infrastructure and property losses.

The occupied valley for years has been facing internet disruption which was the biggest tool of the current era, he said, adding, “The Pakistani nation is supporting Kashmiris and all the diaspora world over for the Kashmir cause.”

He added that the IIOJK issue was pending as an unresolved agenda in the UN and its observers had their offices both in Srinagar and Muzaffarabad. The IIOJK was the world’s largest jail that has stationed around a million soldiers of Indian occupant forces, Sagar said.

The entire IIOJK’s Hurriyet leadership was facing detention including Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Yaseen Malik, Mussarat Alam Bhatt, Asiya Andurabi along with her 33 sisters in Tihar Jail, he said.

The APHC Convener said that despite all this Kashmiris have not lost heart and would continue fighting till their last breath.

Meanwhile, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Human Rights and Women Empowerment Mushaal Hussein Mullick in her video message on the occasion thanked the entire Pakistani nation, people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and people all over the world for expressing solidarity with the oppressed people of IIOJK who were running their legitimate, political and peaceful indigenous and just struggle for right to self-determination and liberation as per the UN resolution for the past many decades.

“Today people are talking about apartheid in Gaza because their footage is going viral but it should be remembered that there has been a more serious escalation in human rights abuses in IIOJK against innocent Kashmiris. Hundreds of thousands of people have rendered their lives for the cause of freedom,” she added.

Mullick said the Indian occupant forces were using pellet guns, white phosphorous, rape as war weapon against women, TARA, POTA, UPA, Armed Forces Special Act type laws were imposed in IIOJK that gave immunity to the Indian RSS forces.

She urged the world that they were running out of time as India had scaled up its settling of non-Kashmiri residents in the the occupied valley to the demography of the Kashmir and had issued five million domiciles to non-state residents so far.

“India has planned to achieve this Muslim Kashmiri majority transformation into a minority within a year. India is doing the genocide of Kashmiris to make them extinct in the valley. I request all who are joining the protests to highlight all the Indian atrocities across the globe,” she said.

“The world is with Palestine and they should also make their voices in unison with Kashmiris to further strengthen forces against occupants like Zionist Israel and Hindutva India that are occupying the freedom of innocent masses. The world must stop Indian RSS terrorist network that is proliferating all over the world that should be brought under global radar to stop its atrocities and terrorism,” Mullick said.

The armed forces of Pakistan, the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, and the services chiefs also paid tribute to the people of Kashmir for their resolve and valiant struggle, consistently braving grave human rights violations and inhumane lockdown in IIOJK under Indian occupation forces.

“Kashmir remains a long pending unresolved issue on the UN agenda since 1948. The issue has to be resolved as per the aspirations of the people of Kashmir and in accordance with UN Resolutions providing for their right to self-determination.

Decades of atrocities by Indian occupation forces have failed to diminish the spirit of the Kashmiri people and their legitimate freedom struggle.

The night is indeed the darkest before dawn – the heroic struggle for Azadi is destined to succeed, InshaAllah,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in its news release said.

There were day-long activities including art and photo exhibitions and seminars in the federal capital and the country highlighting enhanced Indian atrocities against innocent Kashmiris in IIOJK, whereas the Pakistani embassies across the globe also organised different activities in connection with the Kashmir Solidarity Day.