Rights to Kashmiris ‘denied’, MP Rashid on strike in jail today

Jailed MP and Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) chief Engineer Rashid will observe a 24-hour hunger strike inside Tihar Jail starting from Saturday evening, his party said on Friday.

According to AIP, Rashid's hunger strike aims to remind the “people of India that while debates rage over the Emergency of 1975 and suppression of dissent under the Modi government, the continuous denial of rights to Kashmiris since the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019 must not be forgotten.”

In a statement, AIP chief spokesperson Inam Un Nabi said Engineer Rashid, who is MP from North Kashmir, conveyed this decision during a recent meeting with his family, stating that the “duplicity and hypocrisy of both BJP and Congress in accusing each other of throttling democracy while being complicit in suppressing the voices of Kashmiris, must be exposed.”

“It is unfortunate that both parties are leaving no stone unturned to accuse each other of bulldozing liberty, freedom and fundamental rights during their respective regimes. Yet, both are partners in crime when it comes to snatching the constitutional, democratic and human rights of Kashmiris,” Rashid told his family, according to the statement.

He further remarked, “While the BJP is correctly highlighting the atrocities committed during the 1975 Emergency, it conveniently forgets how it has treated Kashmiris over the past 11 years—jailing legitimate political voices, silencing dissent and branding political belief as criminality. Congress and others on the other hand, accuse the Modi government of imposing an undeclared emergency but remain silent about the hundreds of Kashmiris languishing in Tihar and other prisons under draconian laws like UAPA, simply for their political beliefs.”

The party said he has formally conveyed his decision to the jail authorities regarding the proposed day-long hunger strike.