AIP has fielded 34 candidates: Days to go, Engineer Rashid gets bail, rivals question ‘timing’
Court lets him out to campaign; NC, PDP point to others still in jail, ask why release now and not for MP duties
5 min read
Rashid was not named in the NIA’s May 2017 case. Nor was he among the 12 accused named in the agency’s first chargesheet in the case, filed on January 18, 2018. (File)DAYS TO go for the first phase of voting in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, a Delhi court on Tuesday granted interim bail to Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid till October 2 for campaigning. J&K elections end on October 1, with the results to be declared on October 8.
Rashid, who has been in jail since 2019 in a terror funding case, won the recent Lok Sabha polls as an Independent candidate from Baramulla, defeating National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah and People’s Conference chief Sajad Lone.
Rashid had not been allowed out of jail at the time of the Lok Sabha polls, and was only given court permission to take oath as an MP after he won.
Rashid’s Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) has 34 candidates in the J&K poll race as of now, with nominations for the third phase yet to close and one of the nominees withdrawing. His entry into the campaign is expected to give a big boost to his party, especially after the momentum provided by his Lok Sabha win.
Both the National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have suggested that the BJP has some sort of a deal with the AIP, along with other smaller parties.
On Monday, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti asked how the AIP was getting the resources to field so many candidates given that Rashid was jailed. During the Lok Sabha polls, Rashid’s sons, who ran his campaign, had talked about canvassing for votes for him with meagre resources.
Reacting to bail to Rashid, Omar said Tuesday: “We were aware that it would happen. I feel regret for the people of Baramulla parliamentary constituency as this bail has not been granted to serve them or attend Parliament… but to fetch votes here. After that, he will be taken back to Tihar (Jail) and the people of north Kashmir will again be without a representative.”
He also welcomed Mufti’s remarks calling the AIP “a proxy for the BJP”, saying “it is good that Mehbooba has stated openly what many people were thinking”.
NC spokesperson Imran Nabi asked why other prisoners were not being shown “such sympathy” as Rashid. “Bail is everybody’s right… Our manifesto talks about the release of political prisoners. But his bail is critical… People are questioning its timing.”
PDP leader and former minister Naeem Akhtar told The Indian Express: “We don’t grudge Rashid his brief liberty, a time-bound liberty which coincides with the elections. But it raises many questions… His (Rashid’s) primary duty is to represent his electors, who chose him. He is not free to do that. Suddenly he floats a party and his candidates, from all shades and backgrounds, some of whom are known to be close to the government and have previously served it, spring up like mushrooms.”
Akhtar said this hurts “the credibility of the election process”. “The BJP started the game with delimitation, rigged half the elections before the elections were actually announced, split political parties, did social engineering, and now this latest balloon.”
The PDP leader also demanded the release of other prisoners to “remove any doubt” about Rashid’s bail. “What is good for the goose should be good for the gander.”
Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chief Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is also accused by his rivals of being close to the BJP, welcomed the bail to Rashid. In a post on X, Azad, who has returned to the poll battlefield after bowing out days earlier, wrote: “(With Rashid) a democratically elected MP with a strong mandate, this is a step towards justice and his right to campaign.”
Additional Sessions Judge Chander Jit Singh granted the relief to Rashid Tuesday on a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh and one surety of the like amount.
The former Independent MLA was arrested by the NIA on charges of criminal conspiracy in a 2017 case against separatist leaders of “receiving and collecting” funds through hawala channels, in “connivance with active militants of proscribed terrorist organizations Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Dukhtaran-e-Millat, Lashkar-e-Toiba”, to fund “terrorist activities” in J&K.
Rashid was not named initially, nor was he among the 12 accused in the agency’s first chargesheet in the case, filed on January 18, 2018. Rashid’s name surfaced during the subsequent investigation and he was arrested on August 9, 2019, four days after the Centre abrogated J&K’s special status. Ahead of the move, the government had put the entire political leadership of Kashmir under arrest.
In a supplementary chargesheet filed on October 4, 2019, the NIA named five people, including Rashid and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chief Yasin Malik.
Engineer Rashid, formally known as Sheikh Abdul Rashid, came to politics as an aide of Sajad Lone’s father and Hurriyat leader Abdul Gani Lone. His campaign against alleged forced labour by the Army in Langate helped him win two Assembly elections from the seat, including in 2014.
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