Imran Boniyari
Former MLA Langate and senior political activist from North Kashmir’s Kupwara, Er Rashid is a name which is considered as one of the most controversial and vocal political leaders in Jammu Kashmir. Prior to the abrogation of the special status of Jammu Kashmir, he was summoned on the serious charges of “terror funding” in Delhi where police detained him.
All the mainstream political activists were arrested and sent to different jails and detention centres between the night of 4th and 5th August 2019. Some of them were sent to jails outside Jammu Kashmir, where they weren’t in touch with their families and their families had no idea of their whereabouts.
Unlike others, the process of Er Rashid’s detention was different. As mentioned earlier, he was summoned by the National investigative agency (NIA) in some terror funding case from where he was sent for Judicial remand and then Tihar Jail. He is about to complete 3rd consecutive year behind bars in the month of August of 2021. The Kashmiriyat spokes to Sheikh Abrar, who is the youngest son of Er Rasheed.
Sheikh Abrar told The Kashmiriyat that Er Rashid was summoned by the NIA regarding the terror funding case in Delhi, on 3 August. And the family were not aware of it.
“We came to know about it when he was in Delhi and his PA put a status on his Facebook page. It was quite shocking for all of us,” the family said.
“On 5th August when mobile internet, landline and phone service were snapped, we panicked more as we were unable to contact anyone in Delhi,” they told The Kashmiriyat.
“Moreover, this time he did not take anyone along with him. After 3 months, we got to know that he was lodged in the Tihar Jail,” said the family.
The Kashmiriyat asked his son about the financial condition of the family after Er. Rashid’s arrest, and in response he said, “The financial burden was increased when the government stopped my father’s pension as the Ex-Member of the legislative assembly.”
“Since then, my uncle who is a government teacher by profession started looking after us. And he is the sole bread earner for his family. We are three siblings – two brothers and a sister, and all of us go to school. His arrest took a toll on our financial condition,” Sheikh Abrar told The Kashmiriyat.
Sheikh Abrar said to The Kashmiriyat that “My grandmother who is a diabetic patient is struggling to see his son. She once said to me that she wanted to see her son before she expires. Her saying this to me, was one of the most painful moments of my life and tears come in her eyes and she broke down.”
Abrar was further asked about the Local police’s behaviour with the family post his (Er Rashid’s) arrest, to which he said that there was no misbehaviour or misconduct.
“After my father’s arrest, when mobile internet connectivity was completely restricted across the Kashmir Valley, the news was brought to us by the local police station. However, some media portals have reported the misbehaviour of local police with my family which is completely baseless and fabricated and I completely deny that,” said Sheikh Abrar.
He was asked about the coaching institute, that his father ran, to which he responded, “He along with his workers were running a non-profit Truth called ‘Joint Effort Trust’, for philanthropic activities by crowd fundraising.
“One of the finest works of the trust was Free Coaching institute, under which more than 600 students of 11th and 12th from poor sections of the society were getting free coaching annually. Since his arrest, this has been also stopped. Many students are suffering.”
We asked Sheikh Abrar about the silence of Kashmiri politicians on his fathers’ arrest, to which he responded, “Centre detained each and every political activist prior to the abrogation of the special status of Jammu Kashmir, be it a small district president of any party or Party’s chiefs.”
He said that on 4 August 2019, all the mainstream political parties excluding BJP had called a meeting at the Gupkar residence of the PDP president Mehbooba Mufti following the heavy security deployment and speculations of the evacuation of students from NIT Srinagar etc and what happened afterwards is known to everyone. “But the arrest of Er Rashid was different,” he said.
Expressing disappointment in the political leadership, be it mainstream or separatist, the younger son of Er Rashid, Mr Sheikh Abrar told The Kashmiriyat that not a single person had enquired about us and nobody talked about his release in the all-party meet with PM Modi on 24 June in Delhi except for CPI (M) Leader, M Yousuf Tarigami.