The nation observed this year's Kashmir Solidarity Day on February 5 with what is often described as 'usual fervour and zeal'. Like so many years in the past, political and religious parties took out processions while the top government leaders participated in special events and made speeches to express solidarity with the Kashmiri people in their fight for independence from Indian rule.
Prayers were offered and homage paid to those who lost their lives in the freedom struggle. One-minute silence was also observed throughout Pakistan and Azad Kashmir at exactly 9:55 am with traffic coming to a complete halt. These are all activities and gestures with which people everywhere in the world express their support for a given cause.
But we feel the need to do things differently as well. Hence like the years before, January 5, was also declared a public holiday. All government offices, educational institutions, factories, shops and other businesses, and public transport were closed for the day, as if people in every field of national endeavour had gone on strike. In this case, though, it was the government, which had ordered a complete stoppage of work. As a result, man-hours worth billions were put to waste at a time when economic activity has already slowed down to an alarming level because of gas and electricity shortages. Many local production houses and cottage industries have gone out of business and exporters have been complaining of their inability to fulfil orders from abroad due to energy crisis-related work disruptions. The last thing that the economy needed amid all this was a government ordered work stoppage.
Aside from its historical and strategic dimensions, the Kashmir issue is about a people's right to self-determination as recognised by the UN resolutions, and hence deserves the sympathy and support of all fair-minded people. Pakistan has a stated commitment to extend moral and diplomatic help to the Kashmir cause. But then only an economically and politically strong Pakistan would be in a better position to play a productive role towards that end. It would also act as an incentive for the Kashmiris to want to join Pakistan if they ever get a chance to exercise such an option. An economically weak and politically chaotic Pakistan can easily strengthen the case of the Kashmiri groups advocating the 'third option.'