SRINAGAR: As he touched down in Srinagar on Thursday morning, parliamentarian and Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) chief, Engineer Rashid bowed on the ground indicating his gratitude of returning to his homeland.
The north Kashmir MP then continued his journey to Baramulla where thousands of his supporters, mainly youth were waiting for him to arrive and speak. And as expected by the political analysts, Rashid spoke in his signature style amid cheers and massive sloganeering in favour of him by the audience. He kept signaling them to keep calm, as loud slogans kept masking his speech.
Rashid commenced his speech by thanking the people of north Kashmir for giving him a landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year. He was incarcerated during the time.
He called for an end to imprisoning Kashmiris in Tihar Jail while urging the centre to resolve the Kashmir issue once and for all.
“Tihar bhejna bandh karo, Kashmir ka masla hal karo.” (Stop sending us to Tihar, resolve Kashmir’s issue), he said as his supporters amplifiied his call.
He said the vote in Lok Sabha elections was not for him but against the model of ‘Naya Kashmir’ projected by the Narendra Modi-led central government and their decisions of August 5, 2019, when Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh’s special status was revoked and the state was downgraded into two separate Union Territories.
Modi’s ‘Naya Kashmir’ was of UAPA, injustice, and force. “The vote for me was the vote against Modi’s ‘Naya Kashmir’, against his decisions of Aug 5 2019,” he said.
Attacking PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and her late father, Rashid said that their betrayal was bigger than of Sheikh Abdullah. For, Mufti’s, he said, they brought the Bharatiya Janata Party to J&K.
If Mehbooba had conscience, she should have apologized to people for joining hands with BJP after they broke the government, Rashid said.
He said, if Mehbooba and Omar show a comprehensive road map to bring Kashmir’s lost status back, “I will ask all my candidates to withdraw forms.”
Commenting on the JKNC’s vice president Omar Abdullah’s move where he literally removed his skull cap to ask people for votes, Rashid said, “if you had talked about Kashmiris and Kashmir after the decisions of Aug 5, 2019, you wouldn’t have needed to beg for votes today.”
He concluded his speech by asking his supporters to, “be humble, and don’t welcome me or my party members with garlands.” (GK)
