Kashmir Solidarity Day today

By News Desk

ISLAMABAD: The Kashmir Solidarity Day will be observed today (Friday) across the country with renewed commitment for bringing Kashmir Issue to the limelight amid brutal and unprecedented military siege of Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K).

The events will be organised in a novel manner to expose tattered and shammed face of so-called Indian democracy prevailing in Delhi that ripped off the special status of IOJ&K on August 05, 2019. It has been first observed back in 1991 when the entire political leadership of the country unanimously expressed solidarity with the Kashmiri brethren to support their inalienable right to self-determination and liberation from Indian occupation.

The brutal occupant Indian forces had unleashed the worst human rights abuses and violence on the innocent Kashmiri people in its aftermath making around 8 million people hostage under military siege. In order to express solidarity and boost morale of the Kashmiris, Prime Minister Imran Khan will address a public gathering at Kotli in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). One minute silence will be observed at 10:00am across the country. Solidarity walks will be arranged in Islamabad, Muzaffarabad, Gilgit and four provincial headquarters.

Human chains will be formed at Kohala, Mangla, Holar and Azad Pattan points linking Pakistan and AJK. In the federal capital, Muslim Institute will organise Kashmir Solidarity walk from China Chowk to National Press Club at 10:00am. Besides different parts of Pakistan, the Kashmir solidarity rallies will also be held in rest of the world.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) Moeed Yusuf will launch a signature campaign and documentary highlighting Indian atrocities in IOJ&K at 10:30am. Information Minister Shibli Faraz will inaugurate a photographic and painting exhibition at Lok Virsa at 11:00am.

In Gilgit-Baltistan, protest rallies will be organized in all districts of three divisions to condemn state terrorism and brutalities of Modi government against Kashmiri people.

The Pakistan government has announced public holiday in connection with the Kashmir Solidarity Day today.

In IOJ&K, posters with pictures of Prime Minister Imran Khan surfaced on the eve of Kashmir Solidarity Day.

According to Kashmir Media Service, the posters displayed by Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Alliance thanked people as well as the Government of Pakistan, for showing solidarity with the Kashmiris on the day every year.

The posters read: “Thank you Pakistan, thank you Imran Khan for effectively raising the Kashmir issue at all global platforms.”

The posters reiterated that the Kashmiris will continue their struggle till the achievement of the goal of freedom.

President Arif Alvi said in his message on the occasion said the people of Pakistan join in commemorating Kashmir Solidarity Day, paying rich tribute to the Kashmiris on their resilience in their just struggle for the right to self-determination.

“Self-determination is one of the fundamental rights codified in all major human rights instruments as well as the United Nations Charter. The denial of this right and subjugation of Kashmiris in IOJ&K is the very negation of human dignity,” he said.

He called upon the international community to hold India accountable for all its misdeeds and crimes against humanity.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the worst human rights violations being committed by the Indian security forces in IOJ&K challenged the collective conscience of mankind.

Speaking here on the eve of Kashmir Solidarity Day, Qureshi said the response of international community to the human crisis in IOJ&K was not enough because no response could be enough until India was held fully accountable for its serious crimes against the Kashmiris.

He said denial of Kashmiris’ legitimate right to self-determination was an affront to the international community.

“Though significant, the response is, however, not enough – not enough because no response can be enough till India is held fully accountable for its serious crimes against the Kashmiri people. It is the will of international community that is represented through the numerous UNSC resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir dispute – it is that very will that India continues to disobey,” said Qureshi.

However, he acknowledged that the world community had responded to the humanitarian crisis in IOJ&K in some ways.

The recent report by EU DisinfoLab about India’s global disinformation campaign against Pakistan has further validated Pakistan’s position on India’s evil designs, he added.

In this regard, condemnation by multilateral and human rights organizations, international media, civil society and parliaments around the globe is a testimony to both the currency and the urgency of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. India cannot pretend what happens in this internationally recognized disputed territory is an ‘internal matter,’” he pointed out.

He said no expression of solidarity with the Kashmiris was complete unless everyone ensured that their basic rights and liberties were not violated on a daily basis by the Indian occupation forces.

Quoting Noble Laureate Elie Wiesel, who said, “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented”, Qureshi said now was the time to take sides.

“Today, India stands fully exposed before the international community for usurping the fundamental freedoms of the Kashmiri people,’ said the foreign minister adding that the Indian human rights violations had removed the façade of it being a so-called ‘democracy.’