Jailed Baramulla MP To Go On 24-Hour Hunger Strike

(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) Srinagar- Jailed Lok Sabha MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, will observe a 24-hour hunger strike inside Tihar Jail from 8 pm Saturday to 8 pm Sunday, in protest against what he calls the“continued denial of democratic rights” to the people of Kashmir.

In a statement issued on Friday, Rashid's party, the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP), said the hunger strike comes amid the national political discourse around the 1975 Emergency and growing accusations of authoritarianism between the BJP and the Congress.

“While national parties are engaged in a war of words over the erosion of democracy, they remain silent on the plight of hundreds of Kashmiris jailed under draconian laws like the UAPA merely for their political beliefs,” the party said.

The jailed MP, according to his family, accused both the BJP and the Congress of hypocrisy.“Both parties accuse each other of throttling freedoms, yet both are complicit in the systematic suppression of Kashmiri voices,” Rashid is reported to have said.

He criticised the BJP for highlighting the atrocities of the 1975 Emergency while ignoring what he called“11 years of repression in Kashmir”. He also took a swipe at the Congress and opposition leaders for alleging an undeclared Emergency under the current regime while staying quiet about the prolonged detentions of Kashmiris.

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Rashid's party said the hunger strike is also aimed at reminding the nation that the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, marked the beginning of an“ongoing denial of rights” for Kashmiris, which continues to this day.

He has formally communicated his intention to the jail authorities, the AIP added.

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