J&K ex-CM Farooq Abdullah heckled during Eid prayers in Srinagar for chanting 'Jai Hind' as tribute to Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah was heckled during Eid prayers at the Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar on Wednesday for chanting “Bharat maata ki jai” and “Jai Hind” while paying his tribute to Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The crowd began to jeer at Abdullah even before the imam leading the congregational prayers could begin the Eid sermon. [caption id=“attachment_5019751” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Farooq Abdullah. Reuters[/caption] Local residents at the dargah in Srinagar heckled and protested against the leader when he visited the mosque. Dozens of youth also hurled shoes and disrupted the congregation, forcing Abdullah to leave the prayer ground. Hazratbal dargah, where the former chief minister was heckled, is considered a traditional National Conference bastion. Reacting to the taunting, the National Conference chief said he was not scared of anyone. “If they (the hecklers) think that this act will bring freedom, I would like to tell them to free themselves from disease, hunger and beggary first,” he was quoted as saying by ANI .

In a conversation with News18 , Abdullah called the hecklers “urchins” and said they should remember that Kashmir is a part of India.  Twitter users also did not hold back on their criticism of Abdullah.

With inputs from IANS