Srinagar, Jan 31 (Reporter) Authorities on Friday foiled an attempt by the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) to stage a hunger strike here in solidarity with jailed Member of Parliament (MP) Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid. Earlier, the administration had denied the party permission to hold a day-long hunger strike at Pratap Park in the city centre. The AIP leaders later decided to shift the programme to their party office at Sangermal Complex. “We were not even allowed to hold the hunger strike at our office. The police detained several of our leaders and workers,” said Sheikh Khursheed, MLA and Engineer Rashid's brother. “Engineer Sahib has begun a hunger strike in Tihar Jail, and many of our workers gathered to show solidarity with him. However, we were stopped from doing so,” said Khursheed. The protesters were demanding the release of MP Rashid, who had been arrested in August 2019 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). According to AIP, Rashid began an indefinite hunger strike to protest being denied permission to attend the Budget session of Parliament, which commenced on Friday. In a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Rashid stated his intent to begin the strike, saying, “I will go on a hunger strike from January 31 to remind everyone that my people cannot be deprived any longer of their legitimate political rights—both inside and outside Parliament.” Rashid defeated National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah and Peoples Conference chief Sajad Lone from the Baramulla constituency in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Meanwhile, PC chief Lone condemned the disallowing of the protest and said that “peaceful dissent is a right, not charity.” "Irrespective of our political differences with AIP, we defend their right to protest. They have not been allowed to hold a peaceful protest. J and K has a history of muzzling civilian peaceful dissent. And that proved very costly. Let us hope we learn from the mistakes of the past and create a dignified space for peaceful dissent or protest,” Lone said...////...