Will fight Modi till my last breath: Engineer Rashid after release from jail

Baramulla Lok Sabha MP Engineer Rashid on Wednesday (September 11) walked out of Tihar Jail and vowed to fight against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies “till my last breath”.

Rashid was released from prison a day after a court in New Delhi granted him interim bail till October 2 in a terror funding case so that he could campaign in the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls.

Message to PM Modi

Talking to reporters outside the jail, he said that he would continue to fight for his people. Rashid’s sons and supporters welcomed him after he walked out of the prison.

Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, has been in jail since 2019 following his arrest by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the 2017 terror funding case.

He defeated former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Baramulla. Rashid's outfit Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) is contesting the assembly elections.

“I was in jail for five-and-a-half years… I coming to unite my people, not divide them. Kashmir belongs to us and we are ready to sacrifice anything... I will not exploit my people,” he told reporters outside Tihar.

“I will not let down my people. I take a pledge that I will fight PM Modi's narrative of 'Naya Kashmir', which has miserably failed in Jammu and Kashmir. People have rejected his narrative and whatever he did on 5th August 2019. I am committed to working for the welfare of my people for a peaceful resolution to Kashmir issue. I want to tell Modi ji 'Daro mat, darao mat, hum darne waale nahin hain' (Don't be scared and don't scare us, we won't be scared),” he added.

'My fight for the people'

National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said Rashid has been granted bail to fetch votes from the people of Kashmir and not to serve them. People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti has described Rashid’s Awami Ittehad Party as a proxy for the BJP.

When asked about Abdullah and Mufti’s remarks, Rashid said, “My fight is much more bigger than what Omar Abdullah says. His fight is for the chair, my fight is for the people..."

"I am a victim of BJP; I will fight against Modi ji's policies till my last breath because he has already let down the people of Kashmir...," he said when asked whether he would support the BJP in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls.

Rashid alleged that they have “destroyed” Kashmir.

Polling for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in three phases – September 18, September 25 and October 1. The results will be declared on October 8.

Additional Sessions Judge Chander Jit Singh ordered Rashid’s release on interim bail on a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh and a surety of the like amount. He also imposed certain conditions on him, including that he would not speak to the media about the case.