Awami Ittehad Party workers detained in Srinagar for sitting on hunger strike demanding Engineer Rashid's release

Srinagar: Several Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) workers were detained on Friday as they were trying to sit on a day-long hunger strike here to demand the release of Baramulla Lok Sabha MP and party chief Sheikh Abdul Rashid alias Engineer, police said.

The AIP workers assembled at the Sangarmal Shopping complex where they had decided to hold the hunger strike after the district authorities rejected the party's application for a sit-in near Pratap Park in the Lal Chowk area of the city.

The cops, who were waiting at the new venue, bundled the AIP workers, including Rashid's son Abrar, into vehicles and detained them at Kothibagh Police Station.

Before being taken away, Abrar told reporters that not allowing his father to attend the Parliament session was murder of democracy.

"He has been jailed for five and a half years and he is not allowed to attend Parliament. This is a murder of democracy," he said.

The AIP said that the party cadres had planned to sit on a day-long hunger strike in solidarity with Rashid, who is starting an indefinite hunger strike in Tihar Jail.

Rashid was elected to Lok Sabha from Baramulla constituency last year, defeating Omar Abdullah, now the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, and People's Conference president Sajad Gani Lone.