Released from Tihar Jail a day ago, the MP addresses supporters at Baramulla’s Delina area
Member of Parliament and Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) chief Sheikh Abdul Rashid alias Engineer Rashid on Thursday (September 12, 2024) said the Kashmir issue, and not elections, was his party’s top agenda, as he addressed his first public rally in north Kashmir’s Delina after release from Tihar Jail a day ago.
Kissing the ground on his arrival at the Srinagar airport, Mr. Rashid, who has been allowed to campaign for 22 days, headed for his stronghold north Kashmir and addressed his supporters at Baramulla’s Delina area. Setting the tone for the election campaign for his party, Mr. Rashid said, “I am not an enemy of India nor an agent of Pakistan. I am an agent of my conscience. What Prime Minister Narendra Modi did on August 5, 2019 was undemocratic and unconstitutional.”
Terming “peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue” his top priority, Mr. Rashid said his struggle was not merely about Article 370 but “the Kashmir issue”. “A peaceful resolution is for the interests of the region. If Prime Minister Modi has a better solution, we are ready to discuss it. There is Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). Kashmir is up to Gilgit-Baltistan,” Mr. Rashid said.
Fielding candidates from over 25 seats in Kashmir, Mr. Rashid said if the party managed to win 40 seats in the Assembly elections, he, along with the elected members, would sit outside the Prime Minister’s residence in New Delhi and “seek restoration of Article 370”. “Mahatma Gandhi too achieved many things by non-violent methods,” he added.
Slams NC, PDP
Targeting the leadership of the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), especially Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, the MP from Baramulla accused the Peoples Alliance of the Gupkar Declaration of always ignoring the AIP from its meetings.
“I have come to unify people. Ms. Mufti and Mr. Abdullah welcomed release of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren but the same people questioned my release. I had to face worse jail conditions because I refused to support a BJP proxy in the Lok Sabha elections,” Mr. Rashid said.
He said it was unfortunate on the part of Mr. Abdullah to call his victory from Baramulla as “victory of Islamists” and “radicals”. “My win from the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat was a vote against Mr. Modi’s ‘Naya Kashmir’ narrative and the narrative that people were happy about revocation of Article 370,” Mr. Rashid said.
He expressed anger over the denial of representing people inside the Parliament. “For four months now, I have not been allowed to attend the Parliament. It’s because Mr. Modi fears me,” the MP added.
He accused both Ms. Mufti and Mr. Abdullah of failing people of Jammu and Kashmir and not being able to represent their sentiments and aspirations. “Despite the BJP throwing the autonomy resolution in the dustbin, Mr. Abdullah preferred to stay in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government. Ms. Mufti paved the way for the BJP to enter Kashmir. This nation has been cheated and bulldozed by our own people,” he said.
He said he would not shy away from supporting the INDIA bloc “if the Congress promises to bring a resolution in favour of Article 370 once they have numbers in Parliament”. Source
