SRINAGAR — Kashmir’s chief preacher Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Thursday urged the Centre to release Lok Sabha MP from Baramulla Sheikh Abdul Rashid on humanitarian grounds and allow him to visit his ailing father.
Rashid is currently lodged in Tihar jail in a UAPA case on terror funding charges. He was arrested in 2019 and successfully contested Lok Sabha elections while being behind bars.
“Visited the critically ill father of incarcerated MP Engineer Rasheed admitted at SMHS, yearning to see his son lodged in Tihar jail for a meeting which could be their last,” Mirwaiz said in a post on X.
The former chairman of Hurriyat Conference said the “silent suffering of political prisoners” lodged in jails across India and in Jammu Kashmir and their families, is heartbreaking.
“I urge the Government of India to release Engineer Rashid to meet his ailing father, at least on humanitarian grounds,” he said.
The Mirwaiz prayed for recovery of Rashid’s father, Khazir Mohammad Sheikh.
Rashid defeated political stalwart Omar Abdullah and former minister Sajad Gani Lone in a triangular contest in the 2024 general elections. — (PTI)