Kashmir Solidarity Day

Kashmir Solidarity Day

Kashmir Solidarity Day has been observed on 5 February each year since 1990 in Pakistan as a day of protest against Indian control of part of Kashmir.[1] It is a national holiday in Pakistan.[2] Kashmir Day was first proposed by Qazi Hussain Ahmad of the Jamaat-e-Islami party in Pakistan in 1990. Pakistan considers Kashmir as the core issue, between India and Pakistan, leading to three wars and devoting a major portion of their national incomes to defense budgets.[citation needed] World leaders have stressed the need to resolve the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan to avoid an eventuality that may cause a catastrophe in the region. Kashmir is the nuclear flash point of South Asia, surrounded by three nuclear powers.
Purpose

Pakistan and members of the separatist community in Kashmir continue to claim that atrocities are being committed by the Indian state in Kashmir,[citation needed] a claim which India denies, laying a reverse charge on Pakistan for backing insurgency, terrorism and stoking communal passions in the state.[3] In the middle of 2010 there were widespread protests and unrest on the streets of Jammu and Kashmir against the killings of civilians by Indian security forces. The security forces in India and the Indian Army however claimed that the deaths were accidental while trying to control hundreds of protesters out on the street who were pelting stones at the security forces.[citation needed] Nevertheless the protests against the security forces spiraled out of control and within a couple of months more than a 100 civilians had lost their lives. A number of security forces lost their lives too, in the clashes. During the Kashmir uprising in the summer of 2010 which saw scores of protesters killed by Indian security forces and complete shutdown of Kashmir for over a month, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, a key separatist leader, said "We want end to Indian occupation here and have already laid out our proposal for initiating a dialogue."[4]

The purpose of Kashmir Solidarity day as per Pakistani view, is to provide sympathetic and political support to the Kashmiri separatists people who they believe are struggling for their freedom from the Indian rule.[citation needed] The parts of Kashmir administered by Pakistan are known as Azad Jammu & Kashmir (Independent Jammu and Kashmir) and Gilgit-Baltistan, while the part administered by India is called Maqbuza Kashmir or "Indian Occupied Kashmir" in Pakistan. The Indians refer to the area under Pakistani administration as "Pakistan Occupied Kashmir" .

Source WIkipedia