PESHAWAR, Feb 5: The Kashmir Solidarity Day was observed in Peshawar with a pledge by the provincial and district governments that all necessary support would be extended to the Kashmiri people struggling for their right of self-determination.
A rally was held in the Qissa Khwani Bazar to express solidarity with the Kashmiri people. Speaking on the occasion, senior provincial minister Sirajul Haq said the people of Kashmir had waged a struggle for the independence of their homeland which was their basic right. The people of the Frontier province, he said, had rendered both physical and financial sacrifices for the independence of Kashmir which, he added, would continue.
He said that thousands of Pakhtuns had laid down their lives for the cause of Kashmir and maintained that the Kashmir jihad was in the interest of Pakistan.
The minister maintained that the past three years' policies of the federal government created an impression that it was trying to abandon the Kashmir cause.
Efforts were being made to discourage jihad by Kashmiri people, he said and warned the government of serious consequences if it stopped moral and diplomatic support to the struggle for self-determination.
The minister said the Kashmir dispute should be resolved according to UN resolutions and wishes of the Kashmiri people. He said people of the Frontier province would continue their support to Kashmiris till they achieved independence from India.
In his speech, Irrigation and Zakat Minister Hafiz Akhtar Ali criticized the UN for taking no action on Kashmir in the past 57 years despite the fact that the General Assembly had adopted resolutions on the issue. He said the UN had turned a blind eye to atrocities being committed by Indian forces in occupied Kashmir.
He said that human rights organizations should take notice of gross violation of human rights in held Kashmir where Indian forces had let loose a reign of terror.
Information Minister Asif Iqbal Daudzai, in his speech argued that the UN helped East Taimur in getting independence in six months, but the resolutions on Kashmir could not be honoured in 57 years.
He said the federal government should launch a campaign to apprise world leaders that Kashmiri were fighting for their right of self-determination and they were not involved in any terrorist activities.
City Nazim Azam Afridi said that achieving independence was the basic right of every nation and it should also be provided to Kashmiris.
Provincial PML president Agha Syed Ali Shah, representatives from Azad Kashmir, Tariq Sikandar and Imtiaz Tahir, also spoke on the occasion. A large number of students, district government employees, representatives of lawyers and business community attended the rally despite rain.
MANSEHRA: About two dozen activists of Jamat-i-Islami (JI) led by the district Amir Dr Tariq Sherazi, marched from the Markazi Jamia Masjid on Abbottabad road up to Mansehra Press Club to observe the Kashmir Solidarity Day here on Saturday.
Before the rally, pamphlets were distributed by the MMA on Friday making appeal to people to take part in the Kashmir Day rally.
Local leaders of the JI Dr Tariq Sherazi and Younus Khattak speaking on the occasion outside the press club said that the Indian forces had been continuing their atrocities against the innocent Kashmiris and during the last 15 years, more than 80,000 Kashmiris had laid their lives for attaining right to self-determination. They said that conspiracies were being hatched on international level against the just struggle of Kasmiri people. They said that the entire Ummah was supporting the cause of Kashmir but all such conspiracies would be foiled.
KOHAT: The Jamaat-i-Islami, Kohat, on Saturday took out a procession to express solidarity with the Kashmiri people and condemn atrocities being committed by Indian occupation forces in occupied Kashmir.
The procession, after passing through main bazaar, ended at the Shah Faisal Gate where speakers urged United Nations to resolve the Kashmir issue in accordance with its resolutions and give Kashmiris their right to self-determination through an impartial plebiscite.
The participants of the rally, led by Sahibzada Pir Faheem, Chief of Kohat chapter of the party, and Haji Tehseen Ahmed, Secretary-general of the party, chanted slogans in favour of freedom fighters and asked the UN, US and EU to end Indian occupation in the valley.
The participants, through unanimously-passed resolutions, demanded early solution to the Kashmir issue and asked President Pervez Musharraf to honour his agreement reached with the MMA on the issue of uniform.
LANDI KOTAL: Three processions were taken out in three tehsils of the Khyber Agency to mark the Kashmir Day on Saturday.
Jamaat-i-Islami's Khayber chapter organized rallies in Landi Kotal and Jamrud tehsils while Pakistan Muslim League took out a procession in Bara. The PML procession, which was headed by Fata chief organizer Malik Zahir Shah, started from Market Chowk and converged at tehsil offices.
The Landi Kotal and Jamrud rallies were addressed by JI local office-bearers. They condemned Indian atrocities with innocent Kashmiris and demanded that Kashmiris be given their right to self-determination. They asked the Indian government to honor United Nations resolutions on Kashmir and let Kashmiris decide about their future.
RAINS: Another spell of rains and snowfall on the hilly areas which started on Thursday across the district, entered third consecutive day on Saturday. The life has come to a standstill in Mansehra town and the adjoining areas and people have been restricted to their homes. The snowfall has blocked almost all the link roads in the hilly areas. The Kaghan valley road has been closed for all sorts of traffic from Jaraid onwards. Besides, Kaghan valley, Battal and Chattar areas of Konsh valley and Jabbar, Devli, Panjool and Jacha Manda Gucha areas of Bhogarmang valley have received more than one foot snow during the last two days blocking all the major link roads of the area.