A solemn ceremony was organized today in the Embassy of Pakistan Dushanbe, Tajikistan to celebrate the ‘Kashmir Solidarity Day’. Mr. Saidov Saidbeg Boykhonovich, former Ambassador of Tajikistan to Pakistan and India, currently Head of Department of International Relations in the Russian-Tajik Slovanic University Dushanbe, was the Chief Guest on the occasion, says a press release received from Dushanbe, Tajikistan here today.
The event was attended by members of Pakistani community, local journalists, representatives of Human Rights Organizations, academicians, members of Pakistan-Tajikistan Friendship Society and Pakistan Study Centre and National University of Tajikistan.
The ceremony began with the recitation of Holy Quran, followed by playing of national anthems of Pakistan and Azad Jammu & Kashmir. Special messages of the President and the Prime Minister of Pakistan were read out.
Ambassador Imran Haider in his address highlighted the atrocities being committed by the Indian Security Forces in the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir, particularly the inhuman and unprecedented lockdown imposed in the region since 5 August 2019. He added that the UN Security Council has taken up the unresolved Kashmir dispute thrice over last few months which negates the false Indian claim that the Kashmir dispute is a bilateral dispute.
While underlining the importance and urgency of resolving the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UNSC Resolutions and aspirations of Kashmiri people, the Ambassador called upon the Indian government to reverse its unilateral actions, lift the lockdown from the IOJK and release all prisoners including women and children.
In his speech, the Chief Guest Ambassador Saidov Saidbeg Boykhonovich spoke of his several visits to AJK and IOJK during his stint as Ambassador in Pakistan and New Delhi. While referring to Kashmir as “Heaven on earth”, he lamented the fact that unfortunately the Kashmiri people are still waiting for peace and prosperity. He further said that since it is a political dispute it should be resolved through political means. Ambassador Saidov referred to the contributions of the thirteenth-century Tajik Saint Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani in Kashmir and drew similarities between Kashmiri and Tajik people in religion, history, culture and literature.
To raise awareness about the plight of the Kashmiris in the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir, a special documentary with Russian subtitles highlighting brutalities committed by the Indian Occupying Forces was screened. Followed by a pictorial exhibition depicting grave human rights violations in IOJK.
Mir Qurbon Ali Rahmonov, a celebrated Tajik singer, sang the poetic works of Ambassador Saidov and Baidal on Kashmir and its people.
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