RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi Arts Council in collaboration with All Pakistan Private School Management Association (APPSMA) organised tableaus, Kashmiri songs and speech competitions on Tuesday to express solidarity with the Kashmiri people and to pay tributes to their struggle for freedom.

PML-N MPA Riffat Abbasi was the chief guest while director Arts Council Sajjad Hussain and former director Waqar Ahmed were also present on the occasion.

Addressing the participants, Riffat Abbasi stated that Kashmir Solidarity Day was not just a ceremonial occasion but a part of the longstanding struggle that began in 1947 during the partition of the subcontinent.

She highlighted that this struggle was backed by the sacrifices of millions of Kashmiris who had shown unwavering determination in their fight for self-determination. She further explained that when the parti-tion of the subcontinent was announced, all Muslim-majority regions were to become part of Pakistan based on the ideology of Pakistan.

However, she said that Kashmir was forcibly annexed by India through a malicious conspiracy and India continued to deny this fundamental rightthrough its intransigence and oppression.

Former director of Arts Council Waqar Ahmed spoke on the continuous cycle of violence and oppression in occupied Kashmir. He pointed out that innocent Kashmiris were being martyred daily, women were subjected to sexual violence as aweapon of war, young men were forcibly disappeared and children were blinded by pellet guns.

Director Arts Council Sajjad Hussain reiterated that Pakistan would always extend political, moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people, and assured them that they were not alone in their struggle, as the entire Pakistani nation stood with them.

Meanwhile, AIMS Education secured first position, Falcon Schooling System came second and Uzma Model Secondary School took third position in the tableau competition.

In the Kashmiri song competition, Ayesha Daniyal secured first position, Saima Noor stood second and Zara Shoukat took third place. Ahmed Mujtaba from Uzma Model School secured first position, Maryam Bibi from Bright Land School came second while Aiza Butt from AIMS School stood third in the speech competition. Prizes were distributed among the winners of the competition at the end of the event.