Will support INDIA bloc candidates if they promise to restore Article 370: Engineer Rashid

SRINAGAR: Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) chief Sheikh Abdul Rashid alias Engineer Rashid on Thursday said he would support the INDIA bloc candidates in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections if the opposition grouping promises to restore Article 370 whenever they come to power at the Centre.

Rashid came out of jail after being granted interim bail by a special court on Wednesday to campaign for the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

"If INDIA bloc assures us that it will restore Article 370 when it comes to power in Delhi, I will tell every candidate of mine to pledge each vote of their supporters for them," the Baramulla MP told reporters here.

He said if India has to achieve the dream of being a global power, it will have to address the Kashmir issue.

"If India wants to become Vishwaguru, Kashmir issue has to be resolved. If you (PM Modi) have a better solution, please tell us. You are saying that the other side (of Kashmir) wants to join this side. It may be true as well but how do we find out?" he asked.

The firebrand politician, who is facing charges of terror funding, said if he is being branded as a separatist for talking about resolution of the Kashmir issue, then the entire north Kashmir region was secessionist as they have voted for him.

"I want to make it clear that we are neither enemies of India, nor agents of Pakistan. We are agents of our conscience. (PM) Modi snatched everything from us on August 5, 2019 -- illegally and unconstitutionally," he said.

He said Article 370 will not be restored by making statements inside the comfort of homes.

"How will 370 come back? You will have to protest at Lal Chowk and be ready to be hit by batons. But they (National Conference and PDP) cannot do it. When Amit Shah said no one can give back the statehood to Jammu and Kashmir except the BJP government, they did not even dare to say we will fight for it. It does not mean one has to be violent. Gandhiji did it through non-violence," he added.

He expressed pity over PDP president Mehbooba Mufti's statement against him, saying she was deposed from the chair of the chief minister through a tweet by BJP leader Ram Madhav.

"Had Mehbooba resigned to protest the BJP plans to revoke Article 370, I would have said that she is a lioness. But she did not even know when Ram Madhav tweeted that the (PDP-BJP) government is no more," he said.

He also claimed that NC leader Farooq Abdullah was aware in advance that the Centre is going to revoke Article 370.

Rashid hit out at those who tried to project that he won the Lok Sabha elections due to sympathy vote.

"The vote for me was not emotional outpouring. It was against Modi's Naya Kashmir. It was a vote for work that I had done in Langate (assembly segment) on human rights and development," he said.

Rashid claimed that in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, he was pressured to support "the BJP proxy in north Kashmir" but he refused and paid the price for it.

"I don't want to add bitterness to the discourse... I was denied basic facilities available to (jail) inmates because I refused to support the BJP proxy, the candidate (Sajad Lone) who came third. I was put in the ward of mental patients for one and half months," he claimed.

Rashid also took potshots at NC leader and former chief minister Omar Abdullah.

"Had you (Omar) talked about people's issues, you would not have needed to lower your cap in Ganderbal and contest from two seats," he said.

The Baramulla MP also predicted that both Peoples Conference president Sajad Lone and Omar Abdullah will lose the assembly elections from both seats that they are contesting.

While Lone is contesting from Handwara and Kupwara segments, Abdullah is a candidate from Ganderbal and Budgam seats.

Asked why is his detention any different from the incarceration of other mainstream politicians post abrogation of Article 370, Rashid said "comparing my five years in Tihar to (their) detention at SKICC is an injustice to my sacrifice".

Earlier, addressing a gathering in Delni area of north Kashmir's Baramulla, Rashid said seeing the reception he has got, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other political leaders would have understood that Kashmir issue cannot be buried by imprisoning people inside Tihar jail.

"Today, Modi, Shah, (Rahul) Gandhi and other leaders would have understood whom the people of J-K stand with. They would have come to know today that Kashmir issue cannot be buried by imprisoning Rashid, Hurriyat leaders, Kashmiri youth, and Kashmiri leadership in Tihar," he said.

He added Kashmiris do not desire to pelt stones, "but that does not mean we will surrender before your power".

"I want to tell Modi that I have high regards for you, you want to become vishwaguru, you are meddling in Russia-Ukraine conflict, Israel-Palestine. You call us terrorists but talk to Taliban in Doha. You will have to talk to Kashmiris.

"We are not begging. If you can talk to Nagas, then why not us? Today, you have an opportunity, talk to us and resolve the Kashmir issue. If you do not, then this people's tsunami will drown you," he warned.

Rashid said he won by more votes than PM Modi did in Varanasi.

He asked his candidates to work for the people and keep in touch with them.

All my candidates will have to become Engineer Rashid, he added.

On Omar's emotional appeal to the people of Ganderbal to vote for him, Rashid said when he saw that he felt "as if my both sons had died".