Srinagar, Sep 11 (KB): Engineer Rashid, the Baramulla Member of Parliament, has vowed defiance after his release from Tihar Jail on interim bail.
According to news agency—Kashmir Bulletin (KB), A strong critic of the policies adopted by the central government in Jammu and Kashmir, Rashid vowed to strenuously oppose the so-called “Naya Kashmir” agenda propagated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying it had failed.
Rashid condemned in no unequivocal terms the decision to abrogate Jammu and Kashmir’s special status on August 5, 2019, and said, “I will not let down my people. I take a pledge that I will fight PM Modi’s narrative of ‘Naya Kashmir’, which has failed totally in J&K.
People have rejected whatever he did on 5th August 2019.” This he says as an assurance of commitment to redressing what he sees as the failure of the present political dispensation in the region.
He declares that the people have rejected the policies of the Centre, while his mission is to serve them, while pointing out a difference between his goals and those of Omar Abdullah, another significant Kashmiri leader.
Rashid also attacked Abdullah on the ground that the latter’s priorities lie in holding political power, not in fighting for the people. “My fight is bigger than what Omar Abdullah says.
His fight is for the chair, my fight is for the people,” said Rashid, bringing out his belief in the depth of his commitment. He called himself a victim of the BJP’s policies and promised to continue the opposition to Modi’s ideology.
“I am a victim of the BJP, I will fight against PM Modi’s ideology till my last breath,” he declared. Returning to Kashmir, Rashid said he was coming to unite the people of the region: “I am coming to Kashmir to unite my people, not to divide them.”
It was a comment with a wider narrative of resistance against changes sought to be enforced by the central government and mobilization of local support in the face of perceived injustices.
Rashid’s renewed activism might have far-reaching effects, as the polity of Jammu and Kashmir has still not reconciled with the changes enacted in August 2019.— (KB)
