ISLAMABAD, Feb 4: The Kashmir Solidarity Day will be observed all over the country and in Azad Kashmir on Monday to re-assert Pakistan’s moral, diplomatic and political support to Kashmiris and to ensure worldwide projection of the dispute as an international human rights issue.

The call to observe the Kashmir Solidarity Day on Feb 5 had first been given in the mid-1990s by the then chairman of the Parliament’s Kashmir committee, Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, to express solidarity with the oppressed people and freedom fighters of occupied Kashmir struggling for their right to self-determination.

This time, the day is being observed at a time when speculations are rife about the back-channel diplomacy being in an advanced stage with both Islamabad and New Delhi keen to find an agreeable solution to the longstanding dispute.

These speculations were given further impetus after the recent visit of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and other senior leaders of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference to Pakistan and Mirwaiz was quoted as saying that time had come for militants to give up armed struggle and support the peace process.

Observers term highly significant the support from the

APHC to the proposals of demilitarisation, self-rule and joint management put forward by President Gen Pervez Musharraf.

A Kashmir convention to be addressed by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will be a highlight of the activities planned for the day.

A national holiday has been declared for the day and a five-minute silence will be observed at 10am to honour the Kashmir martyrs.

Political parties and people from all strata of society in the country will join hands to express solidarity and unity with their Kashmiri brethren.

Shops, markets and business centres will remain closed on the day. Seminars will be held to urge peace loving nations all over the world to exert pressure on India to stop its aggressive policies and allow the Kashmiris to exercise their right to self-determination.