People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday said that only her party advocates a solution to the Kashmir issue and raises voice for the youth ‘locked in jails’. Targeting the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) of jailed Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid (Sheikh Abdul Rashid), she said that a person in jail is contesting elections while the family of a poor person is not allowed to meet their relatives in jails.
Rashid was on Tuesday granted interim bail by a Delhi court till October 2 in a terror funding case so that he can campaign in the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections. On Sunday, PDP candidate from South Kashmir’s Shopian assembly constituency Yawar Shafi Bande was injured in an alleged attack by AIP workers in Shopian’s Balpora area. After the attack, Mufti accused AIP of being a proxy of the BJP.
Mehbooba Mufti targeted Engineer Rashid
He said, ‘On one hand, the parents of a poor person in jail are not allowed to meet him, but on the other hand, some people are contesting elections from jail, forming parties, they are being provided vehicles and security. When they attack our candidate, the police do not take action against them. On the other hand, the Election Commission sends notice to our candidate. This tells you about the person contesting elections from inside the jail and whose side he is on.’
Here, Omar Abdullah has also targeted Engineer Rashid and called him an ally of BJP. National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah said on Tuesday that jailed MP Engineer Rashid has been granted bail to take votes from the people of Kashmir, not to serve them. He said that after the elections, Engineer Rashid will be taken back to Tihar (jail) and the people of North Kashmir will once again be without representation. Let us tell you that Rashid had contested the Lok Sabha elections from jail and defeated Omar Abdullah from Baramulla seat.
Omar Abdullah also took a dig at Rashid’s bail
However, Abdullah said it remains to be seen how voters will react to Rashid’s interim bail and what impact it will have on the elections. When asked about People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti calling Engineer Rashid’s Awami Ittehad Party a proxy of the BJP, Omar Abdullah said he is very cautious on the issue. He said, ‘It is good that Mehbooba has openly said what a lot of people agree with.’
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)