Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) President Farooq Abdullah was heckled during Eid prayers at a shrine in Srinagar on Wednesday, two days after he chanted "Bharat Mata ki Jai" during a prayer meeting for former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
According to reports, Abdullah was paying tributes to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee when the youth present at the gathering took objection to Abdullah’s words and started shouting slogans against him.
Even before the imam leading the congregational prayers could begin the Eid sermon at the Hazratbal shrine, Abdullah was heckled amid sloganeering.
In a video that is doing the rounds on social media, dozens of youth can be seen raising slogans with their shoes in hand, asking Abdullah to leave the shrine.
The National Conference leader remained unfazed and continued with his prayers, saying the jeering and booing were by his "own people" who were misguided.
A section of the gathering shouted slogans of "Farooq Abdullah go back" and "Hum kya chahte, azaadi" at the mosque.
When a section of slogan shouting youths tried to approach Abdullah, who was sitting on a chair in the front row because of his ill-health, some people joined hands to make a human chain to prevent them from doing so.
Security personnel also threw a ring around the Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar to protect him.
"I did not leave the venue and completed my prayers. They are my own people. They are misguided and I cannot escape my duties of being their leader," Abdullah said while receiving people at his residence.
He told News18 that he would continue to chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' and would even say it in Kashmir.
"Some people were agitated but that does not mean I will escape. I have a task of keeping everyone united," he said.
On August 20, Abdullah had made an emotional speech and chanted "Bharat Mata ki Jai" during a prayer meeting for the late BJP stalwart Vajpayee in New Delhi.
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