JKNPP accuses Omar Abdullah of defending pro-Azadi meeting in Delhi

The National Panthers Party (JKNPP) today criticised chief minister Omar Abdullah for speaking in defence of a pro-Azadi meeting in Delhi recently and those who attended it, including senior separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who was also heckled at the function.

"Jammu and Kashmir chief Minister's defence of Syed Ali Shah Geelani has proved beyond doubt that Omar is trying to get into his shoes,"  JKNPP chairman Bhim Singh said in a statement here.

Criticising the incident of a shoe hurled towards the separatist leader at the convention on 'Azadi -- The Only Way' on Thursday, Omar had said there should be room for dissent in a mature democracy.

Taking strong exception to the chief minister's defence of Geelani, he said it showed that he was hand-in-glove with forces out to provoke the innocent Kashmiris against the country.