If there’s one issue that unites all political parties in Pakistan, even those with strong religious leanings, it has to be Kashmir. Every year, on February 5, observed as Kashmir Day, members of Punjab Assembly and central leaders of different parties congregate, usually on Charing Cross, The Mall, Lahore, and partake in rallies. They make fiery speeches and chant slogans, demanding the right to self-determination for the people of Indian held Jammu and Kashmir. In other parts of the city, the civil society takes to streets, less noisily but no less importantly, expressing solidarity for their Kashmiri brethren who have braved state atrocities for over seven decades.

This February 5, our heart bled more, as the highly condemnable security lockdown and communications blackout imposed by the Indian government in August 2019 to prevent any public reaction in the wake of the revocation of Article 370, which effectively ended what was left of Kashmir’s autonomy, completed six whole months.