In connection with Kashmir Solidarity Day, which will be observed on February 5 (tomorrow), the Senate has unanimously passed a resolution to express solidarity with the oppressed nation during a session on Friday that was chaired by a Hindu Senator, Krishna Kumari Kohli.

Senators warmly welcomed Kohli by loudly thumping desks as she took the chair's seat for today's session.

Taking to Twitter, Senator Faisal Javed Khan said, "A Hindu presiding [over] the Senate session on Kashmir in Pakistan. Chairman Senate [asked] our colleague Krishna Kumari Kohli to do the honour. In connection with #KashmirSolidarityDay, it's a strong message going out depicting [the] difference between Pakistan and Hindustan."

Kohli also tweeted, saying it was a "great honour".

"It is great honour [that] I chaired the Senate session called to discuss the current situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) on the eve of Kashmir Solidarity Day," she said.

Kohli, who was elected senator to a reserved seat in 2018 on a Pakistan People's Party ticket, thanked party chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for providing her an opportunity to become a member of the upper house of the Parliament.

She was the first Hindu Dalit woman to be elected to the Senate in 2018. Prior to becoming a senator, she was an activist in a village in Nagarparkar.

In the resolution, passed during today's session, the senators paid tribute to the heroism and valour of the Kashmiris, reported Dawn.

It rejected the unilateral move of India which was taken on August 5, 2019 terming it illegal and demanded New Delhi to revoke the step. The resolution called the Modi-led government's move a "gross violation of all United Nations resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir".

The resolution condemned Indian human rights violations, war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law in Indian occupied Kashmir. "Ever since Aug 5, 2019, hundreds of innocent Kashmiris have been martyred, arbitrarily arrested or rounded up under trumped-up charges," said the resolution.

"The Senate of Pakistan reiterates its support to the people of Kashmir in the just struggle for their inalienable right to self-determination every step of the way," the resolution added.

Senate Chairperson Sadiq Sanjrani will send a copy of the signed resolution to different world leaders and the UN secretary general.