‘Tihar ka badla’… ‘Vote se’: Baramulla answers Engineer Rashid’s call

With Rashid in jail, his campaign was managed by his sons Abrar Rashid (23) and Asrar Rashid (21). They did not talk about Article 370 abrogation, identity issues or development, or bread-and-butter matters like road, electricity or water. Abrar’s appeal was emotional, seeking votes so that his father could “come out of jail”. He also sought votes against “oppression”, as a “revenge” for his father’s arrest.

When he raised the slogan ‘Tihar ka badla (the revenge for Tihar is)’, the crowds would answer back, ‘Vote se (With votes)’.

Son of jailed independent candidate from Baramulla Sheikh Abdul Rashid, aka Engineer Rashid, shows the victory sign. (Express Photo)

More than the campaigns run by mainstream parties, Rashid’s tapped into the raw anger against the Centre over the unilateral scrapping of J&K’s special status and stripping of its statehood, followed by a clampdown against voices of dissent.

What Rashid also attracted was the boycott vote, which would earlier stay away from polling booths in the Valley, but which now saw a vote for him as a vote for resistance. Abrar addressed this directly in his poll speeches, saying: “I know that you are the pro-boycott people. But promise me, this time you will come out to vote.”

This vote is seen as having consolidated behind Rashid, given that Lone was dubbed a proxy of the BJP by his opponents, and the PDP and NC carried the baggage of alliances with the BJP in the past.

On May 20, when Baramulla voted, the turnout was as high as 58%, a huge jump from 35% in 2019.

While his contest from behind bars underlined this even more prominently, Rashid’s politics since his first foray into elections back in 2008 has always combined separatist politics with faith in democracy – thus putting him apart both from the mainstream and separatist leaders, and filling a crucial middle in the Valley.

Even as the loss is embarrassing for Omar, it is a question of political relevance for Lone, once seen as the most popular leader of the frontier district of Kupwara. That space could now be filled by Rashid.

Rashid incidentally first gained prominence as an associate of former Hurriyat leader and Lone’s father Abdul Gani Lone. In early 2000s, he became a known name in the Valley when he launched a campaign against alleged forced labour by the Army in Langate, his home Assembly segment.

Jailed independent candidate from Baramulla Engineer Sheikh Abdul Rashid’s son Abrar Rashid addresses a rally in support of his father.

After Abdul Gani’s assassination, Rashid sided with his son Sajad and they seemed ready to take the jump into electoral politics in 2008. But Sajad changed his mind after the Amarnath land row agitation, and Rashid parted ways to contest as an Independent for the Assembly elections. His goodwill in the Langate seat helped him win, but fostered a bitter rivalry with Sajad.

In the 2014 Assembly elections, Rashid won again. But then came 2019, and soon after Article 370 was revoked, Rashid was summoned by the National Investigation Agency to New Delhi and arrested in the money laundering case.

On Tuesday, Omar pointed to the fact that there was no sign of Rashid coming out of jail, and that his election to Parliament may not change that. Congratulating him in a post on X, the NC leader said: “I don’t believe his victory will hasten his release from prison nor will the people of North Kashmir get the representation they have a right to, but the voters have spoken and in a democracy that’s all that matters”.