'Aaya Aaya, Kaun Aaya?
'Kashmir Ka Sher Aaya' (Look who has come? The Lion of Kashmir).
These words echoed on the roads of Tral, terrorist Burhan Wani's hometown.
Burhan Wani was the face of Kashmir terrorism until he was killed by the Indian Army in an encounter on July 8, 2016.
This was in the past and now it looks the winds of change are blowing across Tral.
People queue up to watch Rashid Engineer (Sheikh Abdul Rashid), whose Awami Ittehad Party is making waves across Kashmir in the assembly elections. The party, which is yet to be officially registered, has fielded candidates in 35 seats in Kashmir (the Union territory's assembly has 90 seats).
Engineer was elected as a member of Parliament from Baramulla in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, defeating the National Conference's Omar Abdullah while in Tihar jail in a terror funding case.
Imprisoned since August 2019, he is out on interim bail for a month after a National Investigation Agency court allowed him to campaign for his party till October 1.
The Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections are significant as this is the first to be held after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.
Rashid Engineer spoke to
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/
Rediff.com on the importance of these elections, his views on Article 370 and his plans for Jammu and Kashmir if his party wins a majority. Read more
here.