ISLAMABAD/RAWALPINDI: Various rallies and events were organised on Tuesday to mark Kashmir Solidarity Day in the twin cities.

The National Institute of Folk Heritage, also known as Lok Virsa, held a Kashmir Cultural Festival in collaboration with the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, the Kashmir Cultural Academy, the government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and the Federal Directorate of Education.

The festival was organised to express solidarity with the Kashmiri struggle for self-determination in India-held Kashmir through a purely cultural perspective. Minister for Kashmir Affairs Ali Amin Khan Gandapur was invited as the chief guest.

A special exhibition was also held featuring Kashmiri master artisans in various crafts, including papier-mâché, embroidery, namda, gabba, jewellery and weaving, and an arts and crafts market sold decorative items, trinkets and other folk craft pieces.

A group of traditional Gatka players were invited from AJK to perform at the festival as well, and an exhibition of Kashmiri folk arts and crafts was held at the Pakistan National Museum of Ethnology – also known as the Heritage Museum.

Plays, rallies and Kashmir Cultural Festival among events organised

Meanwhile a play titled Aye Mere Kashmir was performed at the Pakistan National Council of Arts. It highlighted atrocities in IHK, including the use of pellet guns and the burning down of educational institutions by Indian forces.

The play’s writer and director, Shahzad Lolabi, told Dawn the play highlighted the problems facing the people of IHK and showed how the Indian government was trying to divide them.

“However it gave a message that 200 million Pakistanis would continue supporting the people of Kashmir,” he added.

The Youth Forum for Kashmir (YFK) held a cycle rally to show solidarity with the people of Kashmir. Representative Ghulam Shabir said the rally was started from Blue Area, passed through D-Chowk and then culminated before the National Press Club.

Jamaat-i-Islami’s (JI) Rawalpindi chapter brought out a rally from Marrir Chowk to Faizabad, led by JI District Emir Raja Mohammad Jawad and attended by more than 300 party workers, who carried placards and shouted slogans against India.

Addressing the gathering, Mr Jawad said Burhan Wani’s death gave a new impetus to the Kashmiri freedom struggle which would continue until Kashmir is freed from India.

He said the government should ban Indian movies in Pakistan as “India promotes its culture through films in Pakistan”. “Trade relations and friendship should also end until the Kashmir issue is solved,” he said.

A separate rally was brought out by the Pakistan Railways Workers Union from the Railways Washing Lines the Rawalpindi Railway Station, led by Maqbool Hussain.

The Rawalpindi Arts Council also organised various activities to mark the day, including a tableau competition featuring schoolchildren where MNA Sheikh Rashid Shafiq was the chief guest.

Mr Shafique said it was not possible to suppress the voices of the Kashmiri people for liberation from tyranny and oppression, adding that they were telling the world about the violation of human rights being committed by Indian forces.

Kashmir Affairs Parliamentary Secretary Sobia Kamal was invited as chief guest to a photography exhibition depicting atrocities committed by the Indian army.

She said she believed innocent Kashmiris would be liberated from India, adding that hundreds of thousands of Kashmiris had been martyred in Kashmir but international organisations have not taken notice.

Speaking at the exhibition, Naheed Manzoor said all Pakistanis were in solidarity with the people of held Kashmir.

A walk led by Dr Ghazanfar Mehdi was also organised in collaboration with the Aim Association, and attended by religious scholars and other individuals. Dr Mehdi said the international community’s silence on the Kashmir issue was lamentable. He said India must be compelled to sit at the dialogue table.

The Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) also expressed solidarity with Kashmirirs and said the United Nations sponsored plebiscite is the only solution to this issue.

RCCI President Malik Shahid Saleem told traders that traders would always stand with the Kashmiri people and be vocal for their right to self determination.

He said the Kashmir dispute was the main reason for contention between India and Pakistan, and a peaceful South Asia can only prosper if all outstanding issues are resolved between the two countries, including Kashmir.

He said trade between the two countries and other regional states could only be boosted when there is peace in the region.

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2019