KARACHI, Feb 5: Numerous programmes – rallies, seminars, symposia, meetings etc – were organised by political, religious as well as social organisations to express solidarity with the people of Kashmir on Monday, February 5, which is declared as Kashmir Day.

Speakers on the occasion demanded that the Kashmir issue be resolved according to the wishes of the people of Kashmir a large number of whom had sacrificed their lives during their decades-old struggle. They said the Kashmir issue was the unfinished agenda of partition and should be solved according to the United Nations resolutions.

At the functions organised by the parties supporting the government speakers highlighted the bold proposals offered by President Pervez Musharraf and hoped that the Kashmir issue would be solved soon, whereas the speakers at the programmes organised by the opposition parties accused Gen Musharraf of betraying the thousands of martyrs of the Kashmir struggle and said that the Kashmiris would not accept the solutions that did not represent their wishes and imposed on them by outsiders.

Pakistan Muslim League leaders speaking at the Kashmir Conference said that the Kashmir issue could only be resolved through the four-point formula proposed by President Pervez Musharraf.

PML leaders – Bostan Ali Hoti, Amanullah Paracha, Sadiq Shaikh and others -- said that the recent visit of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference delegation to Pakistan would prove a milestone in resolving the Kashmir issue according to the Kashmiris’ wishes. They said that it was for the first time that the government was making serious efforts for the solution of the issue so that a lasting peace could be promoted in South Asia.

They said that thousands of people had staged demonstrations in Srinagar and other Kashmir towns in support of Pakistan’s proposals which proved that they supported these proposals. They urged India to accept the four-point formula to promote peace in the region.

The opposition parties, condemning the government for taking a `U-turn’ on the Kashmir issue and pursuing the backdoor diplomacy on the issue, demanded that the people and parliament be taken into confidence. They said the issue be resolved according to the United Nations resolutions.

The speakers – Prof Ghafoor Ahmad, Zain Ansari, Mairaj-ud-Huda Siddiqui, Siddiq Rathore, Shabbir Abutalib, Allama Nazir Taqvi, Allama Arshad Zahid, Dr Jaipal Chhabaria, Basharat Mirza, Maulana Abdul Rauf, Qari Zamir Akhtar, Maulana Fiaz-ur-Rehman, and others – said that earlier the rulers used to go to Muzaffarabad to express solidarity with Kashmiris on Feb 5, but Gen Musharraf had gone to Iran and others countries showing his preference. They said that repeated changes in the stand taken by the military rulers had weakened the principled stand of Pakistan on the Kashmir issue. They said that only Kashmiris had the right to take a decision on the issue and no one from outside would be allowed to impose his will on the Kashmiris. They alleged that Gen Musharraf, on the directives from the US, had agreed to move away from the country’s principled stand on the issue.

They said that India with its nearly a million strong army had not succeeded in suppressing the freedom struggle of Kashmiris in the past 17 years and would not succeed in the next 17 years also.

They said that the masses by participating in large numbers in the rally had proved that they had rejected US-sponsored Gen Musharaf’s formula on the issue. They said that the Kashmiris would not accept any solution that was not according to their wishes.

They said Kashmir was part of Pakistan and the country was not complete without Kashmir. The Quaid-i-Azam had also declared Kashmir the jugular vein of the country. They said the Kashmir issue could only be solved through waging Jehad.

The demonstrators marched from the Jail Chowrangi to the Mazar of the Quaid-i-Azam where a meeting was held. The demonstrators also burnt effigies of Gen Musharaf and US president George Bush on the occasion.

Jamait Ulema-i-Pakistan leaders – Shah Farid-ul-Haq, Hashim Siddiq and others -- speaking at a seminar on Yaum-i-Kashmir organised by the JUP said that while the bloodbath of Kashmiris continued the human rights champions remained silent. They said that the government was planning to take a U-turn on Kashmir, but the masses would not allow the government to betray the martyrs of Kashmir freedom struggle.

Awami Himayat Tehrik leaders – Maulvi Iqbal Haider, Imran Shahzad, Safdar Mirza, Abbas Qazilbash, Ali Raza, Qamar Haider, and others -- speaking at a rally at Empress Market urged the government to move the International Court of Justice so that India could be forced to follow the UN resolution on Kashmir.

Shafiqullah Ismail of the Pasban organisation, speaking at a demonstration, demanded that the Kashmir issue be dealt with seriously. He said the rulers had never been serious about the issue and had been using it to gain politically owing to which it had not been resolved in the past 60 years.

The protesters, who had gathered at the Karachi Pres Club afterwards, took out a procession and came to the Mazar of the Quaid-i-Azam.

Anjuman Talaba-i-Islam leaders – Kashif Ahmad, Shakeel Ashraf, Amir Chishti and others – speaking at a demonstration held at the Urdu University said that “freedom was the basic right of the Kashmiris and the day is not far away when Kashmiris will emerge successful in their struggle.”

Speakers at a function organised jointly by the All-Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference and the Jamiat Ulema-i-Azad Kashmir urged the international community to press India to give the right of self-determination to the people of Kashmir as had been suggested in the United Nations resolutions.

Shujaat Ali Beg, Sardar Abdul Aziz, Azad bin Haider, Javed Khalil Abbasi and others expressed their solidarity with the people of Kashmir and assured them that they would continue to extend moral, political as well diplomatic support to their cause.

Speakers at a Save Kashmir rally, organised by the Islami Jamiat Talaba, said that they would not accept Indian occupation of Kashmir as Kashmir was vital for the security of Pakistan.

The speakers – Abdul Rasheed, Nasrullah Shaji and others -- said that the youth would defend the ideological frontiers of the country.

The protesters took out a procession from Jehangir Park and came to Regal Chowk, where the meeting was held.

The Kashmir Welfare Organization, demanding return of Indian forces from Kashmir to India, said the Kashmir issue should be solved according to the wishes of the Kashmiris.

The vice-chancellor of the Binoria International University, Mufti Muhammad Naeem, speaking at a ceremony organised to show solidarity with the people of Kashmir on the Kashmir Solidarity Day on Monday said: “Kashmir is neither an integral part of India nor a jugular vein of Pakistan, and realising these ground realities, both governments should tell the people about their Kashmir policies, so that the brutal atrocities of Indian forces on the people of occupied Kashmir can be stopped”.

He said that about a million Indian military personnel seemed defeated before the freedom movement of occupied Kashmiri people, which showed the morale of the Indian occupation army was on the decline.

He said that despite the passage of 59 years, the Pakistani government had done nothing for the Kashmiri people but raised hollow slogans. Today's state of Kashmir issue on international level was also the result of the sacrifices of Kashmiris in their freedom movement.

He said had our rulers made sincere efforts to resolve the Kashmir dispute, today Kashmir would have been an independent Islamic state on the world map.