Kashmir Solidarity Day
Kashmir Solidarity Day, or Kashmir Day, is a national holiday in Pakistan and also observed by Kashmiri separatists on 5 February each year. It is in observance of Pakistan's support of and unity with the people of Indian-administered Kashmir, the separatists' efforts to secede from India, and to pay homage to the Kashmiris who have died in the conflict. Solidarity rallies are held in Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir and by some members of the Mirpuri diaspora.
Kashmir Day was first proposed by Qazi Hussain Ahmad of the Jamaat-e-Islami party in Pakistan in 1990. In 1991, the then-Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif called for a "Kashmir Solidarity Day Strike". Sharif had come to power with the help of Jamaat the previous year. The 1991 event was still a Jamaat affair. The present Kashmir Solidarity Day was started by the Pakistan minister of Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas in 2004.
