Awami Itihaad Party (AIP) Chief Spokesperson Inam Un Nabi on Saturday said that jailed Member of Parliament Baramulla, Engineer Rashid, has begun his 48-hour hunger strike inside Tihar Jail, New Delhi. He added that Rashid has dedicated this strike to awaken the conscience of people in India and Pakistan and remind them that around 70,000 lives have been lost in Kashmir since 1989 due to the hostility between India and Pakistan.
Inam Un Nabi said that Er Rashid started his hunger strike on Saturday, as announced in his letter addressed to the Director General of Prisons. The symbolic strike will continue till September 22 morning.
“The protest is aimed at calling out the hypocrisy of both Indian and Pakistani governments who are busy celebrating cricket diplomacy and Asia Cup theatrics, while ignoring the unending pain, sacrifices, and human rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” Inam Un Nabi said.
Rashid is in Delhi’s Tihar Jail in connection with a terror funding case. He had fought the Lok Sabha election of 2024 from the Baramulla LS constituency while he was in jail.
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Encouraged by the voter response in the Lok Sabha election, Engineer Rashid reportedly fielded candidates at several places in the Valley for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections.
As per IANS, AIP fielded candidates for over 20 Assembly seats, but could win just one assembly seat of Langate assembly constituency, which Engineer Rashid had himself represented twice in the past.