Tamil Nadu BJP mocks detained ex-Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah over his recent picture, deletes tweet later

The BJP Tamil Nadu handle tweeted a screenshot of an online order of razors in response to the image of a heavily-bearded former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah. The tweet was later deleted. A picture of Abdullah in which he had a heavy beard surfaced on Twitter on Saturday and soon went viral. In response, the BJP posted a screenshot of the Amazon order bearing the address of the Kashmiri leader’s Srinagar residence. The tweet said it was disheartening to see Omar in his current state and offered a “sincere contribution”. [caption id=“attachment_7967191” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  A screenshot of the now-deleted BJP Tamil Nadu tweet.[/caption] Additionally, BJP leader Giriraj Singh took a jibe on Monday at the picture and said that Articles 370 and 35A were removed from the Valley, not razors. Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and other leaders of Jammu and Kashmir have been in detention since August when the government scrapped Article 370 and divided the state into two Union Territories. This was the first picture of the leader to have emerged in five months. On 15 January, Omar Abdullah was reportedly shifted to his Gupkar residence in Srinagar.

कश्मीर से धारा 370 35a हटाया था ..उस्तरा (Razor) नहीं ?? https://t.co/q9tDgMCbeh

— Shandilya Giriraj Singh (@girirajsinghbjp) January 27, 2020

The picture evoked anger and shock from many leaders. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she could not recognise Omar Abdullah in the picture, while DMK chief MK Stalin called upon the government to release all political prisoners in Jammu and Kashmir. Shiv Sena spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi said that it was sad to feel happiness at just a photo of the former chief minister.

How bad must it be that we are feeling happy just to see a smiling pic of the former CM of J&K @OmarAbdullah . Would truly be a happy moment when he and the rest are out and about, not under house arrest, hear them speak and read his tweets. Till then just the pic brings hope!

— Priyanka Chaturvedi🇮🇳 (@priyankac19) January 25, 2020

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“This picture points to a very disturbing fact about the central government. A former CM, who is also a former Union minister, has been detained for months without any charge. And he and his party have been the biggest votaries of India,” CPIM leader Sitaram Yechury said.