NC Vice President Omar Abdullah said on Monday that MP-elect Abdul Rashid Sheikh, also known as Engineer Rashid, should be permitted to take oath in Parliament and serve his constituents.
Engineer Rashid, who leads the Awami Ittehad Party, is currently incarcerated in Delhi’s Tihar Jail in connection with a terror-funding case.
Despite this, he secured a significant victory in the recent Lok Sabha elections from the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat in Jammu and Kashmir, defeating Omar Abdullah and People’s Conference president Sajad Lone by a considerable margin.
Rashid has approached the court seeking interim bail or custody parole to enable him to fulfil his parliamentary duties.
The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha commenced on Monday with the swearing-in of newly elected members, prompting Omar Abdullah to congratulate all the MPs taking oath.
In a statement, Omar stressed the significance of honouring the democratic mandate of the people of North Kashmir who elected Engineer Rashid.
He also pledged that members of his party in Parliament would vigorously advocate for justice for all prisoners, including Engineer Rashid.
He expressed their intent to push for the transfer of prisoners held outside Jammu and Kashmir back to local jails pending their release.
Echoing similar sentiments, Apni Party chief Altaf Bukhari said, "Why the disparity in the treatment of two public representatives? Aam Aadmi Party’s Sanjay Singh was released earlier this year to take oath as a Rajya Sabha member.”
Bukhari added, “Rashid, despite getting a huge public mandate, isn’t being given any relief so far to take oath as MP.”
“When will this stepmotherly treatment of Kashmiris be over? When will New Delhi start treating the people of J&K at par with the rest of the country?” he asked.
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