ISLAMABAD/ KARACHI/ LAHORE/PESHAWAR: 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 being observed. 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. 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. 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. 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. Rallies were held in various parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Shangla, Kohistan, Battagram, Torghar, Mansehra and Swat in solidarity with the Kashmiri people. In Shangla district, a large number of students, civil society members, teachers and traders participated in the rally, while markets remained closed in protest against India and in support of Kashmir’s residents. Monitoring Desk
