Considered a representative of the left-wing of the PML-N, he has previously described himself as a Marxist and as an admirer of Che Guevara and Meraj Muhammad Khan.[5]
Political career
Pakistan People's Party
Rashid started his political career as a student leader from Pakistan Peoples Party student wing, PSF, from Gordon College Rawalpindi.[6]
When Zulfikar Ali Bhutto imposed the martial law in 1970, as he refused to hand power to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Rashid, despite being a PPP supporter, protested and was eventually put in jail. He would later become one of the founders of PPP Rawalpindi, mainly to counter the rise of Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad. Later he'd be appointed the personal secretary to the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and while he was mostly inactive in politics during the rule of General Zia-ul-Haq, he'd re-emerge in the mid-1990s as a close aide of Shehbaz Sharif, being recommended by Nazir Naji.[5]
Pakistan Muslim League (N)
Later he joined PML-N and was elected member of the Senate in 1997 on PML-N party ticket. He was made Chairman Pakistan Television Corporation in 1997. He was arrested by the army after the 1999 Musharraf takeover and jailed.[6]
He was made to resign in October 2016 from his position as Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage following the report which alleged his involvement in leaking contents of a high-profile security meeting.[2]