Pakistan will observe Kashmir Solidarity Day on 5th February (Tuesday) during which government offices, banks, schools, colleges and other educational institutes will remain closed.
Sindh government issued the notification and it is expected that Federal and other provincial governments including Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu & Kashmir will also issue notifications to announce the holiday.
It is expected that rallies, seminars, conferences and other events will also be held in cities such as Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and across Pakistan on Feruary 5, 2019.
In 1991 during the government of PM Nawaz Sharif Pakistan observed the first Kashmir Solidarity Day and since then it is being observed on national level to show support and solidarity with the people of Indian occupied Kashmir.
The people of Kashmir are struggling for independence from Indian occupation. It is estimated that more than 100,000 people have lost their lives in the struggle for independent Muslim rule in the area.
It is considered among the most militarized zone in the world with 600,000 – 1,000,000 forces deployed in the area.
It is estimated that the total forces are over 1 million, former Foreign Office (FO) spokesman Nafees Zakaria also claimed that 1 million troops are deployed in Occupied Kashmir.
