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 chance meeting between Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Union minister Kiren Rijiju at the Tulip Garden in Srinagar has sparked a political storm, with opposition parties accusing the National Conference of laying out a red carpet for the BJP leader in the aftermath of the Waqf Amendment Act. While NC sources termed the interaction as a purely coincidental encounter, opposition parties like the PDP and Peoples' Conference condemned the meeting, accusing the NC of surrendering to the BJP. The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, passed by Parliament last week, aims to streamline the management of Waqf properties with provisions to safeguard heritage sites and promote social welfare.
'Right now, we have no relationship with Pakistan. And the relationship with China is not great.'
The octogenarian leader, who was candid and witty in his nearly-35-minute speech, said one is even afraid of a handshake or a hug in the current situation.
Omar, who began his political journey in the state from this assembly seat in 2002 elections, had been advised by some of his party men to choose another constituency in the backdrop of his previous poll debacle. National Conference had emerged as the largest party in the last polls with 28 seats in the 87-member House but chose to sit in opposition.
The order comes into force with immediate effect.
Omar, presently kept in detention at Hari Nivas, is likely to be shifted as the J-K administration plans to use the place to host a ministerial delegation from the Centre.
In an attempt to revive tourism in Kashmir after it was severely affected after the Pahalgam terror attack, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah met prominent tour and travel operators from Maharashtra and Gujarat at a Pahalgam hotel on Tuesday, May 27, 2025.
The Congress leader also said that the government wanted to "permanently" use Kashmir as a vehicle to divide the country on communal lines.
The two accused had been on the run for more than two years and also had non-bailable warrants issued against them by the NIA special court, Mumbai.
The opposition Peoples' Democratic Party and Peoples' Conference targeted the ruling National Conference over the meeting, and accused it of surrendering to the Bharatiya Janata Party without even a pretence over the passage of the Waqf act.
Japan, South Korea, Australia, Iran, Uzbekistan and Jordan have already taken six of Asia's eight guaranteed spots at next year's 48-team World Cup.
Union Minister and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday ruled out any problems with ally Congress in Jammu and Kashmir.
In her plea, Sara Abdullah Pilot has said that exercise of powers by authorities under the CrPC to detain individuals, including political leaders, was 'clearly mala fide to ensure that the opposition to the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution is silenced'.
In its chargesheet filed in a special court in Srinagar, the CBI alleged that Abdullah as the association president at that time had connived with the treasurer of JKCA and others for undue siphoning off and misappropriation of funds, a CBI spokesperson said in New Delhi.
Pakistan's ODI campaign ended in embarrassment as they collapsed to 92 all out in the series decider against the West Indies
'Why have we failed to address the issue of ensuring a requisite buffer zone in J&K, given that cross-border links of some J&K politicians are known?', asks Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Nishad Kumar and Simran Sharma won their maiden World Para Athletics Championships gold in high jump and 100m race respectively, as India clinched four medals to jump to fourth spot on the most productive day, in New Delhi, on Friday.
He was earlier questioned in the case for over six hours on Monday. His son and former chief minister Omar Abdullah expressed his displeasure and tweeted the party statement on his father's questioning with the comment: 'This on a day when my father turns 84!'
Mantoo said the decision to meet the Abdullahs was taken at an emergent meeting of senior functionaries and district presidents of the Jammu Province two days ago, soon after restrictions on the movement of Jammu-based National Conference leaders were lifted.
'I am not afraid of BJP. I am not armed with lathi or stone, let them come to me and reply to my questions which they will not'
On November 18, 1962, 114 soldiers of the 13th Kumaon fought till the last man, and last bullet, in sub-zero temperatures, to beat back the huge Chinese army. We salute the Heroes of Rezang La.
When Omar Abdullah took his first plunge into Kashmir politics in 1998, the odds were stacked heavily against him. Separatists were at their peak and the National Conference, founded by his grandfather, Sheikh Abdullah, almost 50 years ago, was seen as a stooge of New Delhi.
'The world does not know that the families of these journalists were threatened and one by one they too have been killed.'
Dubbing People's Democratic Party demand for his resignation as a political stunt, National Conference President Farooq Abdullah on Thursday dismissed allegations of "political payoffs" against him and said truth will emerge in the judicial inquiry into the death of an NC worker.
'We were told that we would be taken care of when we reached Delhi. But we did not find a single Kashmiri government official who could guide us.'
Union Minister Farooq Abdullah on Friday said Article 370 has "eroded" and Jammu and Kashmir should be given autonomy within framework of the Indian constitution.
Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah on Saturday met Home Minister P Chidambaram and discussed the prevailing situation in Kashmir. Abdullah, a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, and patron of the ruling National Conference in the state, discussed with Chidambaram the steps being taken by the Centre and the state government to bring back normalcy in the state. Barring Sopore and Pulwama, curfew was lifted temporarily in the Kashmir valley.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has praised Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for his governance, Union Minister and President of National Conference Farooq Abdullah said on Thursday.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah resumed office on Friday, a day after Governor N N Vohra rejected his resignation which he had tendered over allegations by a senior Peoples Democratic Party leader of his being involved in the 2006 sex scandal case.
National Conference chief and Union minister Farooq Abdullah on Friday triggered a storm by commenting that the situation in the society is so bad that he is afraid of speaking to women these days.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Srinagar to review the security situation in Kashmir following a deadly terror attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people, including tourists. Shah chaired a high-level meeting of security officials, including those from the Army, CRPF, and police. The attack, claimed by The Resistance Front (TRF), a shadow group of the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror group, is the deadliest in the valley since the 2019 Pulwama strike.
After record rains wreaked havoc in Jammu and Kashmir over the past two days, the death toll in related incidents rose to 41, most of them victims of the landslide on a Vaishno Devi pilgrimage route, while there was some let-up in the showers on Wednesday, allowing relief efforts to pick up pace.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said that India and Pakistan came closer to resolving the Kashmir issue during the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government. He added that he does not expect a return to that situation in his lifetime. Abdullah lauded Singh's efforts on Kashmir, including the setting up of working groups on the issue, and said he practically initiated measures for the return of displaced Kashmiri Pandits. The chief minister also praised Singh's contribution to India's economic development.
Former US President Donald Trump claims Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir support his plan to end the Gaza conflict, citing their involvement in negotiations and a recent statement of full support.
National Conference patron and former chief minister Dr Farooq Abdullah will contest the forthcoming assembly election from the Hazratbal constituency, according to the list of candidates released by the party on Thursday.The party has repeated almost all its earlier candidates. There are very few new names in the electoral list.
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