Denouncing Islamabad’s ‘Kashmir Solidarity Day’ as a mockery of real suffering, protesting groups in the UK’s Bradford highlighted the loss of over 100,000 Kashmiri lives due to Pakistan-backed conflict and terrorism over 78 years. The international backlash faced by Pakistan’s annual event came as Kashmiris and Pakistani dissidents in Europe criticized it as a propaganda campaign to hide violence and repression.
Protesters across the UK and Belgium rejected Pakistan’s narrative, accusing Islamabad of waging a proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir, suppressing political rights, and spreading disinformation. In Bradford, residents from Jammu and Kashmir protested outside the Pakistani Consulate, calling the observance fraudulent solidarity and demanding an end to occupation and state terrorism.
Residents of Pakistan-occupied Gilgit Baltistan marked February 5th to expose what they termed as Pakistani hypocrisy and crimes against the people of PoGB and Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir. The focus shifted to Pakistan’s internal issues, emphasizing the need to address poverty and unemployment among its own populace. Pakistan was criticized for depriving people in PoGB of basic rights and accused of genocide against local Shias.
