Solidarity with: Kashmir Protests reverberate across the country

Speakers demand tougher stance on disputed territory, support for Kashmiris

QUETTA/ PESHAWAR/ ISLAMABAD/ LAHORE/ KARACHI: Kashmir Solidarity Day was observed across the country with zeal on Friday as a number of political parties along with religious and civil groups organised programmes and rallies.

They urged the government to adopt a clear-cut stance on the disputed territory and to stand by the Kashmiris till the dispute is resolved.

Assemblies also passed resolutions expressing solidarity with Kashmiris, demanding that a referendum be held to settle the 68 year-long dispute.

In Islamabad, a large rally was organised by a religious group.

In Lahore, rallies were organised by opposition political parities, city district government as well as a number of religious and other outfits.

Speaking at a rally organised by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf at Charing Cross, former Punjab governor Chaudhry Sarwar said that once they are elected into power, they will take up the Kashmir dispute on priority.

He accused the incumbent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leadership of being more interested in strengthening economic ties with India, hence there was no possibility of resolving the Kashmir dispute during their term in office. Several individuals carrying the banners of Azadi-e-Kashmir Rabita Council staged a demonstration outside the Lahore Press Club with speeches in support of the Kashmiri freedom struggle.

Peshawar city along with parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the tribal belt also observed Kashmir day with a number of rallies being staged by prominent political leaders.

K-P government Spokesperson and Special Assistant to CM Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani said the federal government appeared to be in a compromising position with New Delhi over the Kashmir dispute.

“Cross-border attacks and killings of innocent Kashmiris are condemnable,” Ghani told the media at a programme related to Kashmir Day at the Hasnain Shaheed Government School in Peshawar.  “We also want good relations with India, but Kashmir is an integral part of Pakistan and the federal government seems to be in a compromising position.”

Jamaat-e-Islami held its rally from Mahabat Khan Mosque in Peshawar to Chowk Yadgar while Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) was also active with a number of programmes and rallies.

Karachi also saw several processions, seminars and photo exhibitions to mark Kashmir day.

One of the biggest rallies in the city was organised by the JI which started at Jail Chowrangi and marched up to Quaid-e-Azam’s Mausoleum.

JI’s Pakistan deputy chief Asadullah Bhutto, while addressing participants, said the Kashmir dispute is not only an incomplete agenda of partition but also a matter of life and death for Pakistanis and Kashmiris.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) marked the occasion with an event at its headquarters, Nine-Zero.

In Balochistan, rallies were taken out across the province, including the provincial capital, by various political parties in solidarity with the Kashmiris.

JUI’s provincial chapter took out a rally which culminated in a protest demonstration outside Quetta Press Club. They expressed solidarity with the Kashmir cause as well as condemned the raids on religious seminaries.

JI’s Balochistan chapter also took out a rally in Quetta led by its provincial Ameer Maulana Abdul Kabeer Shakir which passed through various streets of the city before culminating in a protest at Mana Chowk. He said that Pakistan was incomplete without Kashmir.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 6^th, 2016.