Engineer Rashid: The Kashmiri politician whose return from jail ruffled feathers

A nearby MP from a Delhi jail returned home to plan for his prospects as Indian-administered Kashmir geared up for assembly primaries earlier this month. Who is he and why does his returning subject to the state’s politics? Auqib Javeed reports from Srinagar.

Sheikh Abdul Rashid, who had been in jail since Article 370 was abrogated in 2019, was granted interim bail earlier this month on terror funding charges he denies.

The 57-year-old, who is famously known as Engineer Rashid, has urged people to vote for his prospects otherwise of regional or national events. Candidate prospects for his Awami Ittehad Party have been chosen for more than three hundred votes.

The high-stakes council votes are the first since the state’s independence was overturned in 2019. The votes have been characterized by federal authorities as a confirmation of sanity in a place long plagued by insurrection due to 873 candidates running in 97 divisions in the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley and Hindu-majority Jammu. Seats may be counted on October 8 and the third and final phase of the surveys will be held on Tuesday.

People and groups in Kashmir have always fought for independence from the nation or for greater autonomy for the state, with some of them supporting an military movement to do that. Main parties in Kashmir have traditionally voted allegiance to India.

Some separatist groups in the past have even backed Pakistan’s part in Kashmir. Both India and Pakistan assert complete control over Kashmir, but they only have access to a portion of it.

However, some previous separatist leaders have participated in this assembly election as well.

Rashid has chosen to be part of the political process but has been outspoken against what he calls Delhi’s “heavy-handed” act in Kashmir.

He is known for his fiery speeches, and leading protests in innovative approaches against alleged state evils, generally troubling government.

In legislative elections in June, he won over local political heavy Omar Abdullah. His brothers led an physically charged and productive strategy on his behalf while he was imprisoned.

However, this time, he can speak directly to voters and has beautifully used social media to spread his message.

Rashid announced to the internet that he would struggle to have Article 370 removed shortly after being released on September 11th.

The post allowed the express its unique constitution, a distinct symbol and freedom to make rules. Foreign affairs, army and connections remained the preserve of the federal government.

” We do n’t accept Prime Minister]Narendra Modi’s ] decision taken on 5 August ]2019]”, he said, referring to the day when the autonomy was abrogated.

He therefore went live on Facebook, repeating related information. The hour-long talk now has more than 2.5m opinions, 44, 000 loves and 25, 000 feedback – an unusually high number for a local politician.

Rashid’s popularity worries his regional opponents, who have termed him a “proxy” of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP).

Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, two former state chief ministers and the group’s heirs, have formally questioned the money of his party and claimed that he was diluting voters in favor of the BJP.

He has repeatedly denied the allegations. “If I were a BJP man, I wouldn’t have spent over five years in jail,” he told the BBC. “I won [almost] 500,000 votes in the general elections, how could I be dividing votes?”.

Social scientist Prof. Sheikh Showkat Hussain claimed that Rashid’s release from jail just weeks before the primaries gave him a excuse to accuse him of cooperation with Delhi’s BJP-led federal government.

” Despite these complaints, his win in the 2024 legislative elections from prison has given him an exceptional trust in the eye of the visitors”, he said.

Rashid has even made a lot of effort to create his unique photo.

Unlike the valley’s prominent leaders who have established political lineages, Rashid has managed to establish an image of a” common man’s politician” who does n’t shy away from taking on authorities.

He attempted to infiltrate the express secretary in 2012 in opposition of the president’s inaction in his district’s growing canine population, which had been the subject of numerous dog bite reports.

“I hope the ministers and bureaucracy now understand the seriousness of the issue,” he said at the time.

But Rashid’s frankness and candour have even landed him in trouble.

In 2015, he hosted a “beef party” to protest a ban on the slaughter of cows, considered sacred by many Hindus, in several states. A day later, members of the BJP, then a part of the state’s ruling coalition, assaulted him in the assembly.

At Delhi’s Press Club, members of a Hindu organization who were upset about the “beef party” attacked him and covered his face with ink as he protested the lynching of a Jammu-based cow smuggler.

The federal government refutes the claim that Rashid’s unusual protests frequently addressed the alleged human rights violations in the Kashmir valley.

On International Human Rights Day in 2015, his party marched through Srinagar with a cow, a mule, a goat, and a dog, holding placards saying, “Animals have more rights than people in Kashmir.” He and other leaders were detained.

Due to his “rebellious nature,” his family claims he has been a “rebellious person” since he was a child, and they are not surprised by his politics.

” He used to protest against the human rights violations, presence of military bunkers, forced labour by the army”, said his brother Khurshid Ahmad Sheikh.

He left his government job as an engineer in 2008 to run for assembly elections, winning twice as an independent.

Once elected to the state assembly, he gained recognition across Kashmir for protesting against what he called the government’s “anti-people” policies, analysts say.

” The element of protest makes him popular. He has been a crowd-puller since he entered politics”, said Noor Mohammad Baba, a political analyst based in Kashmir.

His jail term has intensified public interest in his rallies, he added.

An enthusiastic group of men gathered to listen to him at a recent rally. Some of them were curious observers hoping to see the man in the news, while others were his supporters.

Did the allegations of Rashid being a “proxy of Delhi” bother them?

In the past, almost all regional parties have partnered with the BJP. They are n’t in a position to allege him of complicity with the BJP”, said Rafiq Ahmad, a businessman. People want to give Rashid a chance to see what he does, they say.

Rashid spoke and demanded that the Kashmir conflict be resolved and that no more anti-terror laws be used to imprison Kashmiris. Young men shouted in unison in support.

Within minutes, Rashid was on his way to his next public meeting.