Pahalgam attack was murder of humanity: MP Er Rashid in Parl

Srinagar, Jul 29: Member of Parliament (MP) and Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) chief Engineer Rashid on Tuesday strongly condemned the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, calling it a “murder of humanity”, urging both the ruling NDA and the opposition to speak up for the people of Kashmir.Rashid, who is currently attending the Lok Sabha on custody parole, opened his speech during the ongoing Monsoon Session in Parliament on a poetic note. Referring to Islamic teachings, he said, “The killing of a single innocent is equal to the killing of all humanity. What happened in Pahalgam was the murder of entire humanity.”Rashid said Kashmiris understand the grief of such attacks more than anyone else. “We have carried coffins for over three decades. More than 80,000 lives have been lost since the 1980s. We have seen nothing but graveyards and destruction,” he told the House.While joining the debate over the Centre’s response to the Pahalgam attack, the AIP chief said that beyond calls for punishing terrorists and praising military action, there had been little conversation around the plight of ordinary Kashmiris.“We hear talk of what the LG is doing and how (terrorists) will be dealt with, but who is speaking for the people of Kashmir?” he asked. “The ruling party and the opposition must decide: do they want only the land of Kashmir, or do they want to accept Kashmiris too?”In an oblique reference to the US President Donald Trump’s mediation offers during India-Pakistan tensions, Rashid asserted that the Kashmir issue was not for international powers to resolve. “The solution doesn’t lie with Trump. It lies with the Hindus and Muslims of Kashmir. This is not a communal problem; it’s a political one,” he said.His remarks came against the backdrop of military escalation that followed the Pahalgam attack, with India launching strikes against terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The exchange triggered a short period of heightened tension between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, before international intervention led to a ceasefire.The MP also took aim at the BJP-led government’s narrative of post-Article 370 normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir. “They say everything is normal. Yes, it’s normal, but we are not even allowed to express ourselves on social media. Over 3,000 people are in jail,” he alleged.Rashid, who has been lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail since 2019 in a terror funding case, was granted custody parole from July 24 to August 4 to attend the ongoing session. However, his request for interim bail was turned down by a Delhi trial court last week.His return to Parliament has sparked political interest, as this marks his second appearance in the House since winning the Baramulla seat in the recent Lok Sabha elections.