Srinagar, Jan 31 (IANS): Activists of Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) were detained by police on Friday for trying to sit for a hunger strike demanding bail for the party's founder and Lok Sabha member Engineer Rashid.

Many AIP activists gathered at the Sangarmal Shopping complex in Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar, where they had decided to hold a hunger strike after the district authorities rejected the party's application for a sit-in near Pratap Park in the Lal Chowk area of the city.

Police were waiting at the new venue and as soon as the AIP activists, including Rashid's son, Abrar came, they were put in vehicles and detained at Kothibagh Police Station.

Before being taken away, Abrar told reporters that not allowing his father to attend the Parliament session was a murder of democracy.

"He has been jailed for five and a half years and is not allowed to attend Parliament. This is a murder of democracy,” he said.

The AIP said that the party cadres had planned to sit on a day-long hunger strike in solidarity with Rashid, who is starting an indefinite hunger strike in Tihar Jail.

Rashid was elected to Lok Sabha from the Baramulla constituency last year defeating Omar Abdullah, now the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir with a margin of more than two lakh votes.

He also defeated Sajad Lone of the Peoples Conference (PC) in the same election.

Engineer Rashid was in Tihar Jail when he fought and won the Lok Sabha elections. He has moved an interim bail application in the Delhi High Court so that he can attend the budget session of the Parliament.

He has also pleaded for custody parole if his interim bail application is rejected by the Delhi High Court. The high court has asked the NIA to file a response to the MP’s bail application. Engineer Rashid was arrested by NIA in 2019 in a terror funding case.