Engineer Rashid

Engineer Sheikh Abdul Rashid (born 19 August 1967) is an Indian politician and Member of the Legislative Assembly in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir (MLA) from the Langate constituency in Handwara. He is also referred as a firebrand lawmaker of Jammu and Kashmir. Rashid joined politics in the year 2008 and stunned political observers by defeating senior National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party leaders Sharif Din Shariq and Muhammad Sultan Panditpuri by 210 votes. He also won from the same constituency in 2015. He is the founder and 'patron' of the Jammu and Kashmir Awami Ittehad Party.[1][2]

Engineer Rashid
Engineer Rashid speaking in the J&K Legislative Assembly
Member of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly
Assumed office
25 December 2008
Personal details
Born
Sheikh Abdul Rashid

(1967-08-19) 19 August 1967
Mawar, Langate
NationalityIndian
Political partyAwami Ittehad Party
Alma materGovernment Degree College Sopore

Personal life

Engineer Rashid was born on 19 August 1967 in small hamlet of Mawar in Langate of Kupwara district in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India. He is the elder son of a retired government school teacher Khazir Mohammad Sheikh.

Early life, education and career

Engineer Rashid studied up to class 10th in Mawar. He passed the high school examination in the year 1983. He completed his 12th as a science student from Govt. Higher Secondary School, Handwara.He is the alumnus of Government Degree College, Sopore, where from he graduated in Science. He completed 3 Year Engineering diploma from Government Polytechnic College in 1991. On 27 September 1993, he was appointed as assistant manager (equivalent to junior engineer) in J&K Projects Construction Corporation (JKPCC)—a semi-government construction corporation.

Political career

Rashid started his political career in the year 2008 after resigning from his job as a construction Engineer. After a 17-day campaign he won the constituency seat of Langate in Handwara town in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir.[3]

Arrest

In the year 2005, Rashid was arrested by SOG in Srinagar for supporting militants subsequently jailed for three months and 17 days. A charge of anti-national activities was slapped on him. He was kept in Cargo, Humhama and Raj bagh prisons. Later Chief Judaical Magistrate Srinagar dropped all charges against him on humanitarian grounds. According to Rashid he was arrested by motley group of counter-insurgents that worked closely with the State police and took him to an interrogation centre, where he was "interrogated." After five months of custody, he negotiated his release, paying up Rs. 1.5 lakh by selling his cow and some land.[4]

Attacks

On 8 October 2015 Engineer Rashid was assaulted by BJP MLA's inside the Jammu and Kashmir assembly for hosting a party where he served beef on the lawns of the government circuit with a view to oppose the controversial central Government order banning the Beef in India.[5]

He was also attacked with black ink in Press Club New Delhi by BJP cadets a day after his critical comments regarding the lynching of a Kashmiri truck driver in Udhampur.[6][7]

References
  1. "Engineer Rashid aka Abdul Rashid Sheik(Independent(IND)):Constituency- LANGATE(KUPWARA) - Affidavit Information of Candidate:". www.myneta.info. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  2. MLA Rashid launches new party, Hindustan Times, 12 June 2013.
  3. "How Langate's Engineer Rashid battled counter-insurgency to reduce police intervention in peoples' lives". timesofindia-economictimes. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  4. "I'm the most misunderstood MLA in India: Engineer Rashid". The Hindu. 22 October 2015. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  5. Shankar, Aranya (20 October 2017). "Ink attack on Jammu and Kashmir MLA Rashid Engineer over beef party". Indian Express. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  6. "Ink attack on Jammu & Kashmir MLA Engineer Rashid who had hosted a 'beef party' - The Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  7. "Ink Attack on J&K Lawmaker Engineer Rashid, Who Hosted 'Beef Party'". NDTV.com. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
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