GILGIT: The people of Gilgit-Baltistan will observe the Kashmir Solidarity Day on Sunday (Feb 5) despite Azad Jammu and Kashmir leadership opposing grant of constitutional status to the GB people.

The GB government has announced to observe the Kashmir Solidarity Day across the region tomorrow as protest rallies would be taken out in all the districts to condemn Indian forces’ atrocities against Kashmiris.

Special programmes and seminars would also be held to highlight the importance of the day. In a statement, minister for information, planning and development Iqbal Hassan said that functions would be held across the region to express solidarity with Kashmiri people.

He said the people of Gilgit-Baltistan had always stood by the people of Kashmir in their struggle for achieving their fundamental rights.

The minister rejected the media reports that the regional government had boycotted the day, and said the Kashmiri people were their brethren and they would continue supporting them in their freedom struggle.

Differences emerged between AJK and GB political leaderships over the former’s opposition to any move to make GB part of Pakistan as the arrangement would ‘affect’ the Kashmir cause.

Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly Speaker Fida Mohammad Nashad said the GB people would observe the Kashmir Solidarity Day on Feb 5 with full zeal to send a message across to those who were trying to create divisions between the peoples of the two regions.

Talking to media persons, he admitted that there were elements opposing observing Kashmir Solidarity Day in GB, and there were people in AJK creating problems for GB in getting constitutional rights, but that did not mean that Kashmiris were enemies of Gilgit-Baltistan people and vice versa.—Correspondent