Not able to attend Budget session, MP Rashid to go on hunger strike from today

Jailed Lok Sabha MP and Awami Ittehad Party chief Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, will begin a hunger strike inside Tihar Jail to protest against being denied permission to attend the Budget session of Parliament, which begins on Friday.

In a letter addressed to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Rashid stated that he would start his hunger strike on the first day of the Budget session.

“I request you to intervene and ensure that I am able to attend the upcoming Budget session. If that does not happen, I have no option but to wake and shake the conscience of 140 crore Indians and the institutions of this country,” Rashid wrote.

He further stated, “I will go on a hunger strike from January 31 to remind everyone that my people cannot be deprived any longer of their legitimate political rights—both inside and outside Parliament.”

Rashid’s party recently announced that they have moved the Delhi High Court seeking bail for the Baramulla MP, who is in jail in connection with a terror-funding case.

In his letter, Rashid described it as “unfortunate” that despite receiving official communication from the Lok Sabha Secretariat regarding the President’s order to convene the session, he has not been allowed to attend even a single day. He argued that this effectively leaves 40% of Kashmir’s population, spread over four districts, without representation in Parliament.

“Isn’t it strange, and a mockery of democracy, to invite me to attend the House but then not actually allow me to do so?” he asked. “I have a right to know why the people’s mandate is being constantly ignored,” Rashid added. He asserted that he is being targeted solely for his political beliefs and that he remains behind bars under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) to silence his voice. “Like other mainstream politicians, I too was arrested on the eve of the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019,” he noted.

Rashid warned that what has happened to him could happen to any other parliamentarian in the future, criticizing his fellow MPs for their “criminal silence” on his continued incarceration.

He urged his family to remain patient and bear with him during this time, while also calling on the public to understand his situation. “I assure them that whatever decision I take in the coming days will reflect my duties toward them and will be in accordance with their legitimate wishes and aspirations,” he wrote. Copies of the letter have also been sent to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, all Members of Parliament in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and other relevant authorities.