Pakistan observes Kashmir Solidarity Day

Pakistan on Wednesday observed Kashmir Solidarity Day, with the top leaders extending their support to the Kashmiri people to find a just and peaceful resolution to their issues.

The day is observed every year on February 5 by Pakistan.

President Arif Alvi in his message said India by abrogating Article 370 has directly contravened the relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions.

Article 370 of the Constitution was abrogated to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August last year.

Prime Minister Imran Khan in his message said India has turned 8 million Kashmiris into prisoners in their own land through the deployment of over 900,000 troops.

"The unprecedented length of these restrictions has fully exposed the ‘fiction' of India's democracy and its scant regard for basic human norms,” he said.

He said Pakistan demands immediate lifting of the restrictions and communications blackout.

India has categorically told the international community that its move to scrap Article 370 of the Constitution revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was an internal matter and has also advised Pakistan to accept the reality.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in his message  reaffirmed Pakistan's unstinted political, diplomatic and moral support for the Kashmiri people.

He urged the world to act in support of the fundamental freedoms and basic human rights of the Kashmiris.

He asked New Delhi to allow United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), the media and civil society unhindered access to Kashmir if it had nothing to hide.

India maintains that the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), established in January 1949, has outlived its utility and is irrelevant after the Simla Agreement and the consequent establishment of the Line of Control (LoC).