Engineer Rashid vows to fight PM’s Naya Kashmir

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Awami Itehad Party (AIP) chief Sheikh Abdur Rashid on Wednesday asserted he will fight Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s narrative of ‘Naya (new) Kashmir’ and seek a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue.

“Till my last breath, I will ask for peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue. My fight is bigger than that of Omar Abdullah. I am an agent of my constituency and my people, and I cannot forget dozens of Kashmiris who died in Tihar (jail) for want of treatment,” he told reporters after walking free from Delhi’s Tihar jail after over five years.

Mr. Rashid, 56, who is popularly known as Engineer Rashid, had been lodged in Tihar jail since August 2019 when the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested him in an alleged money laundering and terror funding case. He defeated his nearest rival and National Conference (NC) vice president Mr. Abdullah with a margin of over two lakh votes in home constituency Baramulla in the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year.

He was granted interim bail by Delhi’s special NIA court on Tuesday. It will remain effective until October 2 to allow him to campaign for the AIP candidates in the J&K Assembly elections. However, Mr. Rashid’s release ahead of the polls has raised many eyebrows back home.

Former chief minister and NC president Farooq Abdullah said on Wednesday said that Mr. Rashid too will talk about ‘(kanwal ka) phool’ (BJP’s symbol) of those who released him. “They want to divide the Muslims here and he is with them. I want to remind them of the hijacking of the Indian Airlines flight 814 to Kandahar. The terrorism that is going on today is being unleashed by those who were released at that time,” he said while speaking to reporters in Anantnag.

Mr. Abdullah added, “I told them then not to do this, but they did not listen and today we are the victims of it. BJP and RSS want to weaken India. People here will teach them a lesson.”

His son and NC vice president Omar Abdullah said that Mr. Rashid has been released on bail only to grab votes. He while addressing an election rally in Kupwara, the home district of Mr. Rashid said that the BJP had raised hue and cry over release of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for election campaign but has welcomed the release of the AIP leader.

He said, “The bail granted to Er Rashid is not going to benefit those who voted for him in the Lok Sabha polls. His bail is aimed at fetching votes in Assembly polls.” Later while talking to reporters, the former chief minister said, “When Arvind Kejriwal was allowed to campaign, they opposed the move throughout the country. They (BJP) told how you can release a person from a jail for campaigning, but today have welcomed release of Er Rashid.”

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti said that Mr. Rashid’s release is doubtful as it remains to be seen as to who is funding rallies being held across Kashmir when their leader was behind the bars. “I wish Er Rashid was released during the Parliament elections so that he could have sought votes for himself. His release is doubtful. I am also surprised to see AIP carrying out huge rallies in vehicles. Who is funding AIP?,” she asked while talking to reporters in Wachi area of southern Shopian district. She added that the PDP candidates “are short of money to carry out rallies but AIP has fielded candidates everywhere.” She alleged, “It seems the (official) agencies have chosen the candidates for AIP.”

Asked about former members of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami, Jammu and Kashmir also contesting the polls, Ms. Mufti said that she wasn’t sure whether the Jamaat was really contesting. “The Jamaat is banned, isn’t it? I don’t know who is fighting? Is it the Jamaat really or someone else under its name, the NC proxies?”.

However, another former chief minister and chairman of the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) Ghulam Nabi Azad has welcomed the release of Mr. Rashid. He said, “As a democratically elected MP with a strong mandate, this is a step towards justice and his right to campaign in the assembly elections.”