KARACHI/ISLAMAB, LAHORE, February 5: Pakistanis have come out in droves on streets and avenues across the country to participate in rallies and make human chains on the occasion of Kashmir Solidarity Day which has been observed on Wednesday.
Members of the federal and provincial governments joined citizens at the various rallies, public meetings and seminars being held to express support for the people of occupied Kashmir and their right to self-determination under the United Nations resolutions.
Every year, February 5 is observed as a day of solidarity with Kashmiris. This year, however, it comes after India stripped the region of its special status and imposed a lockdown.
The Indian government had on August 5, 2019, repealed Article 370 of its constitution, stripping occupied Kashmir of its special status. It also divided up occupied Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories; one Jammu and Kashmir, and the other the Buddhist-dominated high altitude region of Ladakh. The bifurcation of the territory came into effect on October 31 last year.
A strict lockdown and communications blackout has been in place in occupied Kashmir since August 5. Forcing people offline has crippled the economy and made it impossible to pay utility bills, make applications or just send a message to family outside the stricken zone.
Last month, limited mobile data services and internet were temporarily restored in the region.
In Islamabad, a rally was held to express solidarity with the Kashmiri people. It was attended by female members of the parliament and women belonging to different walks of life.
Government’s chief spokesperson Firdous Ashiq Awan addressed the event, saying the day had arrived for “India’s illegal occupation of occupied Kashmir” to end.
She said the innocent people of Kashmir were looking towards the people of Pakistan for help with their cause. Awan demanded that occupied Kashmir’s residents be granted their right of self-determination.
In Karachi, a rally was taken out from Kashmir Road to Mazar-i-Quaid to express solidarity with the people of occupied Kashmir.
Organised by the Sindh government, the rally was attended by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, Governor Imran Ismail, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, provincial ministers, advisers, special assistants, provincial secretaries and senior police officers.
Addressing the rally, Shah said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has unleashed a wave of terror against the Muslims of India and has launched a genocide in occupied Kashmir.
“Your hands are stained with the blood of innocent Kashmiris and one day you will have to face cases of war crimes in the International Court of Justice,” he said, referring to Modi.
During the rally, songs of solidarity with the people of Kashmir were played and a special band performed until the event’s conclusion.
Lahore’s Mall Road was decorated with the flags of Pakistan and AJK while camps were set up across the city to show support for the people of occupied Kashmir.
Addressing a rally at Charing Cross, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar said there was a strong connection between the residents of Lahore and occupied Kashmir.
Condemning Indian atrocities in the occupied valley, he demanded the implementation of the United Nations resolutions on the Kashmir dispute.
“We stood with the Kashmiris in the past, do so today and will continue to stand with them in the future,” the chief minister said, adding that the “hearts of Pakistanis beat with Kashmiris”. Agencies
