India must resolve Kashmir issue to become global power: Engineer Rashid

SRINAGAR: Lok Sabha member Engineer Rasheed said on Thursday that if India wants to become a global power then it must resolve the Kashmir issue.

“If India has to achieve the dream of being a global power, it will have to address the Kashmir issue. If India has to be Vishwa Guru, Kashmir has to be resolved. If you (PM Modi) have a better solution, please tell us. You are saying that the other side of Kashmir wants to join this side. It may be true, but how do we find out this,” the MP said while addressing a press conference.

He said if he is being branded as a separatist for talking about the resolution of the Kashmir issue, then the entire north Kashmir region is secessionist as they have voted for him.

“I want to make it clear that we are neither enemies of India nor agents of Pakistan. We are agents of our conscience. PM Modi snatched everything from us on August 5, 2019, illegally and unconstitutionally,” he said.

He added that if the INDIA bloc promises to restore Article 370 when they come to power, he will support each and every candidate of the alliance during the Assembly polls.

“If the INDIA alliance assures us that it will restore Article 370 when it comes to power in Delhi, I will tell every candidate of mine to pledge each vote of their supporters for the opposition alliance,” he said.

He said Article 370 will not be restored by making statements inside the comfort of homes.

“How will 370 come back? They will have to protest at Lal Chowk and be ready to be hit by batons. National Conference (NC) and PDP cannot do it. When Amit Shah said no one could give back the statehood to J&K except the BJP government, they (NC and PDP) did not even dare to say that they would fight for it,” the MP said

MP Rasheed said that it does not mean one has to be violent, ‘Gandhiji did it through non-violence’.

“Had Mehbooba resigned to protest the BJP plans to revoke Article 370, I would have said that she is a lioness. But she did not even know when Ram Madhav tweeted that the BJP has withdrawn the support to PDP,” he said.

He claimed that Abdullah was aware in advance that the Centre was going to abrogate Article 370.

“The vote for me was not emotional outpouring. It was against PM Modi’s Naya Kashmir. It was a vote for work that I had done in the Langate Assembly segment on human rights and development,” the MP said.

He claimed that in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, he was pressured to support the BJP proxy in north Kashmir, but he refused and paid the price.

“I don’t want to add bitterness to the discourse. I was denied basic facilities available to jail inmates because I refused to support the BJP proxy, who was the candidate who came third. I was put in the ward of mental patients for one and a half months. I have no regrets if this is the price to pay for truth,” he said.

He added that had Omar Abdullah talked about people’s issues, he would not have needed to lower his cap in Ganderbal and contest from two seats.

Rashid Engineer said that both Peoples Conference President Sajad Lone and Omar Abdullah will lose the Assembly elections from both seats that they are contesting.

Patiala House court granted him bail till October 2 and the court ordered him to surrender on October 3.

He was granted interim bail to campaign for the Awami Itihad Party (AIP).

J&K goes to vote on September 18, September 25 and October 1. (IANS)