Kashmir Solidarity Day is commemorated every year on 5 February by the people of Pakistan and Kashmir around the world to express Pakistan’s unwavering support for the legitimate, just, and righteous struggle of the Kashmiri people for the realization of their sacrosanct right to self-determination.
This day is an acknowledgment of the resilience of the Kashmiri people who have been subjected to the atrocities of the Indian armed forces that have Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir(IIOJK) for nearly eight decades.
The UN Security Council has passed a number of resolutions to resolve the issue of Kashmir through an impartial plebiscite under UN auspices; however, all those remain unimplemented due to India’s refusal to demilitarize the valley.
The situation worsened when, on August 5, 2019, India illegally and unilaterally abrogated Articles 370 and 35A of its constitution, dismantling Kashmir’s special autonomous status, which was a flagrant violation of international law, including the UN Charter, the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and the 4th Geneva Convention.
This unilateral action was followed by unprecedented military siege (more than 900,000 soldiers in the valley), communications blackout, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions, custodial torture, enforced disappearances, and the use of pellet guns, which have turned the valley into an open-air prison.
The constitutional change was promptly followed by the measures aimed at engineering a demographic shift, as India has issued over four million domicile certificates to non-Kashmiri settlers. This strategic move aims to alter the region’s political landscape, which would turn the territorial dispute into the vital question of identity and survival of Kashmiris.
The RSS-BJP government, following the Hindutva ideology, has introduced discriminatory policies affecting the Muslim majority population in IIOJK. The recent incident of the closure of Shri Mata Vishno Devi Medical Institute in IIOJK following the protest against the admissions of Muslim students depicts growing discrimination against Kashmiri Muslims.
The extent of tyranny and oppression imposed on the people of IIOJK is evident in the statistics. From January 1989 to December 2025, Indian forces have martyred 96,480 Kashmiris, including 7,408 in custody or staged encounters. Over 179,759 civilians have been arrested, 22,991 women widowed, and 108,007 children orphaned. Indian troops have gang-raped or molested 11,269 women and destroyed or damaged over 110,562 homes, deepening the humanitarian crisis.
Press freedom in IIOJK is in shambles. The arrest of independent journalists by labelling their work as subversive is a clear depiction of how dissenting voices are continuously being silenced. It also reflects how media regulations have been weaponized to silence the truth.
Sustainable peace in South Asia relies upon a just resolution of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the aspirations of the people of Kashmir and the relevant United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.
In this regard, Kashmir Solidarity Day is a global call for justice. The international community must move beyond rhetoric. The ongoing blatant violation of international law and UN Security Council resolutions demands an urgent global intervention.
It is high time that the international community must press India to grant Kashmiris their inalienable right to decide their own future. The idea of powerful states altering disputed territories without consequence calls into question the credibility of the entire framework of international law.
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