Srinagar: It was a quiet, lonely Eid Monday for former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, quite unlike previous years when their homes were full of celebratory crowds of supporters, friends and family members.
The three leaders were detained after the Centre revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 and proposed that the state be bifurcated into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
A week after the government’s announcement, the homes of Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti in the city’s posh Gupkar Road wore a deserted look Monday with only a security vehicle stationed outside.
While National Conference president Farooq Abdullah is under house arrest at his residence, his son and party vice-president Omar Abdullah is at the Hari Nivas Palace. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba is staying at the Cheshma Shahi Hut here, officials said.
Several other political leaders, who were picked up August 5, offered prayers at the Centaur Hotel here, administrative officials said. The government provided them with a ‘maulvi’, they added.
Elsewhere in the Valley, too, Eid-al-Adha celebrations were muted with an unprecedented security cover and curfew-like restrictions. All modes of communication, including internet and phones, have been snapped.
Eid prayers were limited to neighbourhood mosques in Kashmir. Security forces fanned out across towns and villages, restricting the movement of people and prohibiting congregations in large grounds.
PTI