Engineer Rashid gets his day in Parliament: 10 hours of House, 1 min of speaking time

Arrested under the UAPA in an alleged terror funding case, Rashid has been lodged in Tihar Jail since 2019. The last time he was out of prison was when he was given interim bail to campaign for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections in September last year.

Before that, he was allowed out in July 2024 to be sworn in as MP after pulling off a stunning win from the Baramulla seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, contesting from behind bars and defeating National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah and People’s Conference chief Sajad Lone.

Rashid’s appeal to be allowed to attend Parliament since then was finally accepted on Monday, when the Delhi High Court granted him two days of parole to participate in the ongoing Budget Session, on Tuesday and Thursday. But with riders: he could not use a cellphone or the Internet, and could not speak to the media or any person except those required in his role as an MP.

On Tuesday morning, a senior Delhi Police officer said, Rashid was picked up in a jail van by the Delhi Armed Police from Tihar Jail, and first taken for a routine health check-up to RML Hospital. “At around 9.30 am, the jail van reached Parliament, where his custody was handed over to the CISF, which is overall in-charge for security of the Parliament building. While we took all the security precautions, the CISF too had formed a special team, which was present with Rashid throughout the day,” the officer said.

The Parliament proceedings began at 11 am. During the Question Hour, as Rashid sat watching the proceedings, two Kashmir MPs made their way to sit next to him. Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi (Srinagar constituency) and Mian Altaf Ahmad (Anantnag-Rajouri) — both belonging to the NC — were with him for over 20 minutes each.

Sources said they talked with Rashid largely about his health, his parole and his case.

At 1.16 pm, after the Zero Hour had begun, Rashid made his way to the Speaker’s dais, where members can submit their names so as to participate in the discussion.

On the way back to his seat, he stopped to greet some Congress and Samajwadi Party MPs, including SP president Akhilesh Yadav and Congress MPs Gaurav Gogoi and Adoor Prakash.  Not long after, Jagdambika Pal, who was in the Speaker’s chair, called out his name to speak.

In the time assigned to him, Rashid raised the demand for tunnels to improve connectivity to North Kashmir areas such as Keran, Karnah and Machil that get cut off during adverse weather conditions.

Then, he urged the government to probe the recent deaths of a truck driver who was killed near Sopore after the security forces opened fire at his truck for not stopping at a check-post, and of a Kathua youth, who was said to have died of suicide reportedly after being tortured by police.

“Hamara khoon sasta nahin hai. Humein jeene do, humein jeene ka haq hai (Our blood is not cheap. Allow us to live, we have the right to live),” said Rashid.

The House quickly moved on to the next speaker.

Later, as Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra was exiting the House, Rashid greeted her. She sat down next to him and the two spoke for about 10 minutes.

After the Zero Hour, when the discussion on the Budget resumed, Rashid could be seen with his hand raised to get the Speaker’s attention.

He also walked up to the chair again, ostensibly to give his name for the discussion.  This time, on the way back, he greeted Congress MP and former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, among others seated in the Opposition Benches.

When the Budget discussion ended and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman began her reply, Rashid walked to the front of the House one more time, demanding that he be given a chance to speak. After stopping her speech briefly, Sitharaman continued over Rashid’s disruptions.

The Baramulla MP then staged a walkout in protest, returning shortly after to watch the rest of Sitharaman’s reply in silence.

At other times, it was a quiet first day in Parliament for the Independent MP, whose previous legislative experience was as an MLA in the J&K Assembly. The 59-year-old refrained from interacting with other MPs in the corridors, nor did he visit the MPs’ dining hall.

“Around 7 pm,” the Delhi Police officer said, “Rashid sat in the prison van again. He was dropped at Tihar Jail around 8 pm.”

-with inputs from Mahender Singh Manral