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Every year on February 5, Pakistan observes "Kashmir Solidarity Day" through choreographed rallies, official speeches, and state-funded events designed to project unity with Jammu and Kashmir.
Government offices shut, slogans echo, and a carefully scripted narrative is pushed at home and abroad. But behind the spectacle lies a widening gap between rhetoric and reality, one that residents of Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK) and Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan (PoGB) increasingly reject. For many living under Pakistan's control, February 5 no longer represents solidarity but state-sponsored hypocrisy. Critics in PoJK and PoGB argue that February 5 has evolved into a political performance designed to mislead global audiences while masking systemic exploitation and political denial at home. Islamabad claims moral authority over Kashmir while retaining centralised control over governance, resources, and decision-making in the very territories it claims to represent. Local leaders and activists contend that Pakistan speaks of Kashmiri rights abroad while curtailing them on the ground. The contradiction is stark. Natural resources from PoJK and PoGB, including water and minerals, are extracted with little local consent or benefit. Political autonomy remains limited, dissent is constrained, and economic opportunities lag far behind promises. As Pakistan amplifies its solidarity messaging each year, local grievances continue to deepen. Khuwaja Mujtaba Bande, a prominent leader of the Joint Awami Action Committee, has repeatedly urged residents to boycott Kashmir Solidarity Day events, describing them as a rehearsed deception that substitutes symbolism for substance. His calls reflect a growing fatigue among locals who view the annual observance as a reminder of unfulfilled assurances rather than genuine concern. While Pakistan projects itself as the custodian of Kashmiri aspirations, public anger in PoJK and PoGB is increasingly directed at entrenched power structures, particularly the outsized role of Pakistan's military establishment in regional affairs. Critics argue that this influence has widened the gap between official narratives and lived realities, leaving ordinary citizens unheard and underserved. In contrast, Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed visible progress in recent years. Infrastructure development, improved connectivity, expanding tourism, and governance reforms have transformed daily life across the region. Investment, social welfare initiatives, and grassroots political participation have contributed to economic growth and relative stability, developments that stand in sharp contrast to conditions across the Line of Control. The comparison is difficult to ignore. While Pakistan stages elaborate solidarity events, PoJK and PoGB continue to struggle with unemployment, inflation, lack of political representation, and basic governance deficits. The louder the slogans on February 5 grow, the more they highlight the silence surrounding these unresolved issues. If solidarity were genuine, critics argue, it would not require pageantry or propaganda. It would mean devolving power, ensuring economic justice, protecting civil liberties, and allowing the people of PoJK and PoGB to determine their own future. It would require listening to Kashmiri voices rather than speaking over them. Until that happens, Kashmir Solidarity Day will remain, for many, a carefully crafted illusion, an annual exercise in optics where the language of freedom is invoked, even as its substance remains denied under Pakistan's continued illegal and forceful occupation of PoJK and PoGB. (ANI)
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