Srinagar, Jan 30: Authorities in Srinagar on Friday thwarted an attempt by the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) to hold a hunger strike in support of incarcerated Member of Parliament (MP) Engineer Rashid.
AIP members had gathered outside the party office in Srinagar, intending to stage a peaceful hunger strike, demanding the release of Er Rashid, who remains lodged in Tihar jail.
However, as soon as the protest began, police intervened and prevented the demonstrators from proceeding with their plans.
Eyewitnesses reported that several party workers were briefly detained before being dispersed from the area. “We were here to protest peacefully for the release of our leader, but the police did not allow us,” an AIP supporter said.
The District Magistrate Srinagar had denied permission for the party’s “one-day peaceful hunger strike” at Press Colony.
The AIP workers assembled at the Sangarmal Shopping complex where they had decided to hold the hunger strike after the district authorities rejected the party’s application for a sit-in near Pratap Park in the Lal Chowk area of the city.
The cops, who were waiting at the new venue, bundled the AIP workers, including Rashid’s son Abrar, into vehicles and detained them at Kothibagh Police Station.
Before being taken away, Abrar told reporters that not allowing his father to attend the Parliament session was murder of democracy.
“He has been jailed for five and a half years and he is not allowed to attend Parliament. This is a murder of democracy,” he said.
The AIP said that the party cadres had planned to sit on a day-long hunger strike in solidarity with Rashid, who is starting an indefinite hunger strike in Tihar Jail.
Rashid was elected to Lok Sabha from Baramulla constituency last year, defeating Omar Abdullah, now the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, and People’s Conference president Sajad Gani Lone. (With PTI inputs)
