ISLAMABAD, Feb 4: The Kashmir Solidarity Day will be observed across the country on Tuesday to express solidarity with the people of occupied Kashmir in their struggle for the right of self-determination.

Political parties and other bodies have scheduled programmes to highlight the plight of Kashmiris.

Speaking at a press conference here Monday, Chairman of the Special Committee of Parliament on Kashmir, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, and other members of the committee said that UN sanctions should be imposed on India for flouting the world body’s resolutions by not holding plebiscite in occupied Kashmir.

Maulana Fazl said the committee had sent suggestions to the government to highlight the plight of Kashmiris at the hands of Indian occupation forces.

He was of the view that the Kargil misadventure had damaged the Kashmir cause and tarnished the image of Pakistan and the Kashmiri resistance at international forums.

He said dialogue was the only solution to resolve the Kashmir dispute, but added that the recent military adventure at the LoC by Indian forces was condemnable as it was destabilising the region.

Maulana Fazl said around 700,000 Indian soldiers had failed to break the spirit of Kashmiris who were striving for their right of self-determination.

The Kashmir Solidarity Day was first notified as a national holiday in 1990 by the PPP government.

In a message to mark the occasion, President Asif Ali Zardari said: “The government and people of Pakistan observe the Kashmir Solidarity Day on Feb 5 every year to reassure our Kashmiri brethren of our political, moral and diplomatic support towards their just cause for the right of self-determination as enshrined in the UN Charter and the relevant UN resolutions.”

Mr Zardari said that Kashmiris had remained resolute and steadfast in the face of oppression spanning over six decades and Pakistan believed that the use of force, coercion and violation of basic human rights could never succeed in suppressing an indigenous struggle for a just cause.

Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in his statement said people of occupied Kashmir had been subjected to the worst kind of human rights violation and denied fundamental rights.

They had been denied their right to self-determination despite UN resolutions.

The prime minister said that the indigenous movement in occupied Kashmir had gained a new momentum and urgency.

“We recognise sacrifices of those Kashmiris who were martyred in their struggle for self-determination and call for holding plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with resolutions of the UN Security Council.”

The prime minister asked the international community to take cognizance of atrocities being inflicted upon innocent men, women and children by Indian forces in occupied Kashmir.