Ex J&K CM Farooq Abdullah heckled during Eid prayers
What's the story
Former Jammu and Kashmir CM Farooq Abdullah was reportedly heckled during Eid prayers at a mosque in Srinagar. The incident took place at the 17th century Hazratbal mosque in Srinagar, but the J&K National Conference leader remained unfazed. Notably, a section of the gathering shouted slogans of "Farooq Abdullah go back." Here's what happened.
Incident
Abdullah was protected by other mosque-goers, security personnel
Reportedly, a section of the mosque-goers shouted slogans like "Farooq Abdullah go back" and "Hum kya chahte, azaadi" while Abdullah was offering Eid prayers. When a section of youths tried to approach Abdullah, who was seated in the front row because of his ill-health, other mosque-goers joined hands and formed a human chain to protect him. Security personnel also threw a ring around him.
Abdullah's response
Agitators were "misguided", says Abdullah
In an interview with PTI, Abdullah said that he was unfazed by the incident. Calling the agitators "misguided", he said he had a job of "keeping everyone united" and would not be scared into hiding by his "own people". He also wondered why him shouting 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' during the prayer meeting of late PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee was being blown out of proportion by some media houses.
Twitter Post
What the former CM had to tell ANI
Mein darne wala nahi hun. Agar yeh samajhte hai ki ise azadi aayegi toh mein inko kehna chahta hun ki pehle begaari,beemari aur bhookmari se azadi pao: Farooq Abdullah on protests against him during Eid prayers for raising'Bharat Mata ki Jai' slogans during Vajpayee's prayer meet pic.twitter.com/F0dCBoDJ80
— ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2018