Kashmir Solidarity Day Marked as India, Pakistan Clashes Increase

Pakistani are rallying to express their support to the Kashmiris in the struggle for their inalienable right to self-determination under the United Nations (UN) resolution.
 
People from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) will also observe the day and a joint session of AJK Legislative Assembly and Kashmir Council would be held in Muzaffarabad, the capital of the Pakistani territory of Azad Kashmir. The session will be addressed by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.
 
Over the recent past, Tensions soar along India, Pakistan border in Kashmir. Despite a 2003 ceasefire, India and Pakistan regularly trade fire across the so-called Line of Control (LoC), the military demarcation between the Indian and Pakistani controlled parts of Jammu and Kashmir.
 
India regularly accuses Pakistan of aiding fighters in crossing the LoC to attack Indian targets. Pakistani has been denying the charges.
 
Since independence in 1947, the two nuclear-armed neighbors have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, which both countries claim in full.
 
The LoC has remained volatile in the last year. According to official figures, 860 incidents of ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops were reported in 2017, compared with 221 the year before.
 
Anti-India sentiment runs deep among Kashmir's mostly Muslim population, and most support the rebels' cause against Indian rule, despite a decades-long military crackdown to fight dissent.
 
Separatist groups have been fighting since 1989 for the Indian-administered portion to become independent or merge with Pakistan.
 
Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown. India maintains roughly 500,000 soldiers in the territory.
 
The conflict in Indian-controlled Kashmir is basically a struggle for self-determination with residents of the region demanding a plebiscite while India rejects the call.