Pakistan observes Kashmir Solidarity Day

Pakistanis across the country observed Kashmir Solidarity Day on Tuesday, expressing their resolve to support the Kashmiris’ struggle for freedom from India’s illegal rule in the occupied valley.
Kashmir Solidarity Day is observed on February 5 to reiterate the support of the Pakistani nation to struggle of Kashmiri people for their right to self-determination under the pending UN resolutions.
Several events, including public rallies, walks, and seminars, were organised in different parts of the country to pay homage to the martyrs of the liberation struggle of the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK).
Human chains were formed at Kohala, Mangla, Holar and Azad Pattan point linking Pakistan and Azad Kashmir. Similarly, human chains were also formed at Kohala, BararKot and other points linking Pakistan and Azad Kashmir.
Food was distributed among the Kashmiri refugees in their camps at Muzaffarabad, Bagh, Kotli, and Mirpur.

‘KASHMIRIS’ RESOLVE GETTING STRONGER’:
In his message on Kashmir Resolution Day, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the Kashmiris’ resolve for freedom is getting stronger with every passing day.
The premier said the Indian forces’ brutalities on innocent people of Kashmiris, including pellet gun firing on children, are still going on and Kashmiris are fighting this occupation with their strong will of freedom.
He further said that Indian military forces are using black laws like Special Power Act and Public Safety Act to torture and murder the people of Kashmir, which has made the life of the people miserable.
Separately, in his message on Kashmir Solidarity Day, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi reaffirmed Pakistan’s unflinching support to the people of Occupied Kashmir in their struggle for self-determination against “wrongful Indian occupation”.
He said that India’s consistent denial of this right recognised by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions is a telling example of impunity. The human rights violations in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir are a blot on the conscience of humanity and demand immediate corrective action by the international community.
He said the reports of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on Jammu and Kashmir and the UK’s All Parties Parliamentary Kashmir Group (APPKG) have lifted the veil off decades of obfuscation by India of massive human rights violations and unspeakable crimes against humanity in the valley.
The foreign minister said that Pakistan remains committed to finding a just and peaceful resolution to this long-standing dispute. Our principled position on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is based on none other than the United Nations Security Council resolutions, he added.
He added that these resolutions provide for the final disposition of Jammu and Kashmir dispute through a free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations (UN).
He said that Jammu & Kashmir is the core dispute between Pakistan and India. The dream of peace and prosperity of the people of this region will remain elusive without resolving this dispute in accordance with the aspirations of its people.
He called on the international community to not forget its obligation towards the Kashmiris and understand that continued apathy towards the sufferings of the people of Kashmir could have disastrous consequences not only for the region but potentially for the world at large.

‘LONG, UNRESOLVED ISSUE’:
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Asif Ghafoor tweeted that Kashmir has been a “long, unresolved issue” on UN agenda since 1948.
“Decades of atrocities by Indian occupation forces have failed to suppress ever-strengthening and legitimate freedom struggle [in Kashmir]. Determined Kashmiris shall succeed Insha Allah,” he asserted.