Rashid’s supporters stage sit-in at Jantar Mantar seeking his release

A massive sit-in protest was held at Jantar Mantar here marking six years of incarceration of Baramulla MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid.

Hundreds of supporters, activists, and sympathisers gathered with placards and banners demanding the immediate release of the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) president and Lok Sabha MP Er Rashid, along with other Kashmiris lodged in different jails across the country and Jammu & Kashmir.

Protestors raised slogans terming the detention of Er Rashid an “assault on democracy,” stating that keeping a democratically elected MP behind bars undermines the people’s mandate. Carrying posters that read “Prison walls cannot silence people’s mandate” and “When leaders are jailed, democracy fails,” the demonstrators pressed the Union Government to end what they called “unjust and prolonged detention.”

Civil society members from Delhi, including peace activist OP Shah, also joined the protest in solidarity. Leaders addressing the gathering said that six long years of incarceration despite public support and parliamentary mandate is “a travesty of justice” and reiterated the demand for Er Rashid’s release so he can represent his people in Parliament.

The sit-in is being seen as a strong message of solidarity with Er Rashid and other detenues of Jammu and Kashmir, amplifying calls for justice, democracy and human rights.

Rashid has been in jail since 2019 in an alleged case of terror funding.