KARACHI, Feb 5: Political and religious parties held rallies and other events to mark Kashmir Day, with a significant show of strength displayed by the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, here on Tuesday.

The JuD rally was also addressed by leaders from Indian-held Kashmir over the phone, who vowed to continue their struggle and lauded the moral support being extended by the people of Pakistan to the Kashmir cause.

Hundreds of JuD workers took out a procession from the Safari Park and marched to the Karachi Press Club in the second half of the day. At the KPC, those who addressed the rally included party leaders and such veterans from Indian-held Kashmir as Syed Ali Geelani of the Tehreek-i-Hurriyat, Shabbir Shah of the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party and Asiya Andrabi of Dukhtaran-i-Millat.

“It’s not time to open trade with India but to get Kashmir freed from it,” a JuD statement quoted Mr Geelani as having told the rally. “The spirit in the Pakistanis for the Kashmir cause is phenomenal and the people here expect that Pakistan will continue its moral, diplomatic and political efforts for Kashmir freedom.”

The rally was also addressed by JuD Karachi chief Eng Naveed Qamar and leaders from other political parties, including the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and the People’s Youth Organisation. Another rally was organised by the Jamaat-i-Islami, which was taken out from the Jail Chowrangi to the Mazar-i-Quaid.

A large number of JI workers, including women and children, attended the rally addressed by JI Sindh chief Dr Mairaj-ul-Huda Siddiqui, acting JI Karachi chief Barjees Ahmed and JI Karachi general secretary Naseem Siddiqui.

“We do not accept the United Nations which cannot stop the barbarism in Kashmir, Syria, Burma and other parts of the Muslim world,” said Dr Siddiqui while speaking at the rally. “Over 100,000 Kashmiri youngsters have been killed and thousands of women raped by Indian troops over a decade, but the brutality has failed to inspire the UN to move.”

The two rallies also caused gridlock on M.A. Jinnah Road that stretched to Saddar and other adjoining areas. Officials said traffic flow normalised after traffic police presence was increased.

Showing solidarity with the Kashmiri people, Millat-i-Islamia Council Pakistan also organised a symposium to discuss challenges faced by the people struggling for freedom and a possible solution to the conflict between the two countries.

Chairman of the Anjuman Faizan-i-Raza Shah Turab-ul-Haq Qadri and Allama Shariq Adnan Rizvi also spoke.

PML-N meeting

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Sindh president Syed Ghaus Ali Shah speaking at a public meeting at the PML-N office on Karsaz Road expressed the party’s solidarity with the people of Kashmir striving to overthrow the Indian yoke.

He urged the people to play their role in getting the PML-N and its allied parties candidates in the coming election as the problems being faced by the country could be solved only by a leadership committed to the three principles of the Quaid-i-Azam —unity, faith and discipline — and it was the PML-N whose leadership was bound to the Pakistan ideology and capable of steering the country out of the crises.

Mr Shah said during the past five years rule, miseries of the people had multiplied and in Karachi, which used to be the cradle of peace, about a dozen innocent people were being killed daily.

Dr Muzaffar Esani said the Kashmir issue had been on the charter of the UN for the past 65 years and Pakistan and India had fought three wars over the issue.

Eng Shah Mir Khan, Amin Mana, Ali Akbar Gujjar, Rana Ehsan, Nehal Hashmi and others speaking on the occasion said problems of the people, including the Kashmir issue, could be solved only when there would be a government of their true representatives.

MQM’s appeal

Deputy Convener of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement coordination committee and Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Dr Farooq Sattar has said that the progress and development of South Asia hinges on a solution to the Kashmir dispute.

Speaking at a gathering at the MQM headquarters Nine Zero on the occasion of Kashmir Day, he said the continuation of the status quo was the biggest hurdle in resolving the Kashmir dispute. He said India was the largest democracy in the world, but it was blemished by the Kashmir dispute.

He appealed to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the people of India to help resolve the dispute.

A large number of Kashmiris living in Karachi attended the ceremony.