Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid walked out of Tihar jail on Wednesday, a day after a court here granted him interim bail till October 2 in a terror funding case so that he can campaign in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls.
Talking to reporters outside the jail, he said 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 NIA under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in a 2017 terror funding case.
“He was released from jail at 4.15pm,” said a senior prison official.
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.
Later at the Press Club in Delhi, Rashid said: "I salute the people of India, who did not give 370 seats to Modi.
"I want to tell PM Modi that his idea of 'New Kashmir' is failing.... You never listen to us. Don't label us as Pakistanis. Treat us as humans.... Why are you afraid of speaking to us? If everyone is a separatist, then you've lost the narrative in Kashmir."
He added: "Till there is even one innocent Kashmiri in Tihar jail, I will not be in peace.... I am committed to working for the welfare of my people. We are not going to get scared. My fight is bigger than what Omar Abdullah says. His fight is for the chair, my fight is for the people. I am a victim of the BJP, I will fight against PM Modi's ideology till my last breath. I am coming to Kashmir to unite my people, not to divide them."
