Several Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) workers were detained on Friday while attempting to stage a day-long hunger strike in Srinagar demanding the release of the party supremo and Member of Parliament of Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid.
The protests were initially planned to take place at Pratap Park in Lal Chowk but were denied permission by district authorities.
Following the restriction orders, AIP members gathered at Sangarmal Shopping Complex, where police were already present to maintain public order and avoid inconvenience to the general public.
Besides the top leadership of the party, Engineer Rashid’s son Abrar was taken into custody and later shifted to Kothibagh Police Station.
Before being detained, Abrar criticised the government's decision to prevent his father from attending Parliament, calling it a "murder of democracy.
He said that Rashid has been imprisoned for over five years and is now being denied his democratic rights.
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The AIP had organised the hunger strike to express solidarity with Rashid, who has begun an indefinite hunger strike inside Tihar Jail.
Meanwhile, the party leader and former MLA Langate Sheikh Khurshid said that the party leaders were detained by the police and that AIP will decide on its future course of action only after their release.
The AIP chief engineer, Rashid, has begun an indefinite hunger strike on Friday, protesting alleged mis-treatment in Tihar Jail.
Rashid has been imprisoned since 2019 after his arrest by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in a 2017 terror-funding case.
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