AJK Declares 'Solidarity With Pakistan Army Week' (May 1–10) — Flags, Rallies, and Prayer Gatherings as Sindoor Anniversary Approaches

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) launched a ten-day 'Solidarity with Pakistan Army Week' (May 1–10, 2026) on official directives from AJK Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore and announced by AJK Information Minister Chaudhry Muhammad Rafiq Nayyar on April 30. Beginning May 1, national flags of Pakistan were hoisted across all districts, tehsils, and towns of Azad Kashmir. Planned activities include ceremonial events, seminars, rallies, and special prayer gatherings to commemorate the armed forces' role in defending Pakistan. Nayyar described the bond between Kashmiri people and the Pakistan Army as 'eternal and unbreakable,' adding 'the people of Azad Kashmir have always stood with Pakistan.' The ten-day observance spans the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor (May 7, 2026), making its timing politically deliberate — a direct Pakistani counter-mobilization to India's commemoration events. The May 10 end date coincides precisely with the first anniversary of the May 10, 2025 ceasefire. The AJK government, which administers Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir — the territory India calls 'Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir' — organized similar solidarity events after previous India-Pakistan military crises. The mobilization reinforces Pakistan's domestic narrative that the army successfully defended the country against India during Operation Sindoor, and builds a narrative framework ahead of the anniversary week in which both sides are expected to issue competing accounts of the May 2025 confrontation.