Onlykashmir.in News Desk
Baramulla Member of Parliament Er Rashid staged a dramatic protest in the Lok Sabha on Friday, raising alarm over recent mass detentions and the demolition of residential houses in Kashmir following the killing of a Jammu and Kashmir Police personnel in Anantnag. As the House assembled, Er Rashid entered the Well of the House and raised slogans, describing the security response in the Valley as large scale collective punishment against ordinary residents.
The protest coincided with demonstrations by the Opposition, led by Rahul Gandhi, over the NEET controversy and its demand for the resignation of the Union Education Minister. Amid the overlapping protests, Er Rashid criticised both the NDA and INDIA alliances, alleging that the concerns of the people of Jammu and Kashmir were being sidelined even as national attention focused elsewhere. He said he had urged Rahul Gandhi to stand with the people of Kashmir, to which Gandhi reportedly responded that he would do so.
Speaking outside Parliament, Er Rashid expressed sympathy for the family of police personnel Ashiq Hussain Qureshi, who was killed in the Anantnag attack, while questioning the reported detention of thousands of people and the demolition of residential houses in its aftermath. He argued that the arrest of large numbers of people and the bulldozing of homes could not be justified as a response to a single attack, framing the crackdown as disproportionate and punitive toward the wider Kashmiri population.
He further alleged that people in Jammu and Kashmir continue to be denied democratic rights and questioned what he described as inconsistent standards applied to similar situations in different parts of the country. Er Rashid also criticised the use of force against protesters in New Delhi, drawing a comparison with the treatment of demonstrators in Kashmir.
When the House reassembled later in the day, Er Rashid raised the issue again, also referring to the death of an auto driver, Arif Hussain, in Bhaderwah, and sought a response from Union Minister of State Dr. Jitendra Singh. The exchange added to a charged day of parliamentary proceedings marked by overlapping protests from multiple opposition benches.
