Engineer Rashid

Sheikh Abdul Rashid, better known as Engineer Rashid, is a Kashmiri politician and a member of Lok Sabha representing Baramulla constituency in Jammu and Kashmir, India. He is currently under bail after he was arrested on terror-funding charges.

Earlier he was a member of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, from the Langate constituency in Handwara. He is the founder and patron of the Jammu and Kashmir Awami Ittehad Party.

Early life

Rashid was born c. 1967 in his hometown Langate. He got involved with Kashmiri secessionist politics as a teenager, and joined the Abdul Ghani Lone-led People's Conference in 1978. In 1987, the People's Conference was a leading member of the Muslim United Front which fought the 1987 election on an Islamist agenda. The election saw widespread rigging, and is mentioned as a prime factor in the rise of Kashmir insurgency two years later.

Rashid obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in 1988, and a diploma in civil engineering two years later. He worked for over a decade as an engineer in the state government-run Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction Corporation. He is seen a simple man, dressed in Khan suit, taking public transportation and occasionally hitching rides on motor cycles.

Political career

Rashid transitioned from a career in construction engineering to politics in 2008, winning the Langate constituency as an independent candidate in the 2008 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election and retained it in the 2014 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election. Rashid subsequently established the Jammu and Kashmir Awami Ittehad Party. Despite facing imprisonment on terror-funding charges, he secured a significant victory over former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, underscoring his substantial grassroots support and political influence in the region. Rashid defeated former chief minister of Jammu & Kashmir Omar Abdullah in 2024 Lok Sabha election from Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency.

Arrest

In the year 2005, Rashid was arrested by the SOG in Srinagar for supporting militants and subsequently jailed for three months and 17 days. A charge of anti-national activities was on him. He was kept in Cargo, Humhama and Raj bagh prisons. Later Chief Judicial Magistrate Srinagar dropped all charges against him on humanitarian grounds. According to Rashid he was arrested by motley group of counter-insurgents that worked closely with the State police and took him to an interrogation centre, where he was "interrogated." After five months of custody, he negotiated his release, paying up ₹1.14 lakhs. In Aug 2019, he was arrested under UAPA case. He filed his nomination form for contesting 2024 parliamentary election from jail and won by the margin of 2 lakhs 4 thousand votes by defeating former Chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah.

Release

On 11 September 2024, Rahid was released from Tihar Jail at approximately 17:30 (IST) after being granted interim bail by Patiala House Courts Complex. The court granted him bail until October 2, allowing him to campaign for the 2024 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election.

Attacks

On 8 October 2015 Engineer Rashid was assaulted by BJP MLA's inside the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly for hosting a party where he served beef on the lawns of the government circuit with a view to oppose the controversial central Government order banning the consumption of beef in India.

He was also attacked with black ink in Press Club New Delhi by BJP cadets a day after his critical comments regarding the lynching of a Kashmiri truck driver in Udhampur.