MANSEHRA: Rallies and special events were held in different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday to show solidarity with the people of the India-held Kashmir on the International Human Rights Day.

In Mansehra, students, lawyers, traders and people from other walks of life took out a rally from Khatme Nabuwat Chowk to the press club building holding banners and placards and shouting slogans against the Indian government over Kashmir occupation.

They demanded the right to self-determination for Kashmiris and end to the prolonged lockdown in the India-held region.

The protesters set an effigy of the Indian prime minister to fire.

District bar association president Amir Khan said the international community should speak against Indian brutalities and genocides of Kashmiris in the held region.

Participants of rallies, functions flay India over Kashmir lockdown

He said the Human Rights Day was marked in Pakistan as the Kashmir Solidity Day.

Also, a seminar was held at the Hazara University, where the speakers, including Vice- Chancellor Syed Manzoor Shah, demanded of the international community to get the held-Kashmir’s long-drawn-out siege lifted to the relief of the residents.

They also demanded the right to self-determination for Kashmiris.

In Bajaur tribal district, including Khar area, the political and religious organisations and district administration arranged rallies and events to mark the Human Rights Day.

The participants condemned rights violations in the India-occupied Kashmir and said Pakistanis stood with Kashmiris in their fight for the right to self-determination.

The main event was held in Civil Colony, Khar, where elders, political and social activists, traders, religious leaders and officials showed up in large numbers.

The speakers said the 128 days long Kashmir lockdown had proved that India was the world’s biggest human rights violator.

They asked the international community to take an immediate, effective notice of the Indian brutalities against Kashmiris and force India to resolve the Kashmir dispute in line with the United Nation resolutions.

Also, the Jamaat-i-Islami held a gathering in Nawai Kali area to highlight the rights violations in the India-held Kashmir.

The speakers criticised the PTI government over ‘failure to effectively’ highlight Kashmir issue at international forums.

Such rallies and functions were held in Khar and Inayat Kalli bazaars, Government Postgraduate College, Khar, and a local seminary, where participants vowed to continue supporting the people of the occupied Kashmir in their fight for freedom.

Also, the Timergara campus of the Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan, held a seminar and a rally to highlight the violation of the rights of Kashmiris in the India-held region, while the Jamaat-i-Islami, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl and Pakistan Peoples Party jointly demonstrated to show solidarity with Kashmiris.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2019