Srinagar, June 27: Jailed Member of Parliament and Awami Itihaad Party (AIP) President, Engineer Rashid, has announced a 24-hour hunger strike inside Delhi’s Tihar Jail to protest the continued denial of democratic rights to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The hunger strike will take place from 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 28, until 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 29, a party spokesperson said in a statement.
The AIP said the hunger strike also aims to draw attention to the silence of national political parties over the plight of hundreds of Kashmiris imprisoned under stringent laws like the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), simply for expressing their political views.
According to AIP’s Chief Spokesperson Inam Un Nabi, Engineer Rashid conveyed his decision during a recent meeting with his family, stressing the need to expose the “hypocrisy” of both the BJP and Congress. “Both parties accuse one another of suppressing democracy, yet they are equally complicit in depriving Kashmiris of their constitutional, democratic, and human rights,” Rashid reportedly told his family.
He criticized the BJP for highlighting the 1975 Emergency while ignoring its own actions in Kashmir over the past decade, including the incarceration of political voices and suppression of dissent. He also called out the Congress for accusing the Modi-led government of running an “undeclared emergency,” yet remaining silent on the continued detention of Kashmiri political prisoners under harsh laws.
The party said Engineer Rashid’s hunger strike is meant to remind the Indian public that while debates over past and present political emergencies dominate headlines, the erosion of Kashmiris’ rights post the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, must not be overlooked. Rashid has officially informed the jail administration about his planned hunger strike, the statement concluded.
With inputs from the agencies
