Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], September 8 (ANI): National Conference President Farooq Abdullah, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, and other leaders paid tributes to the founding leader of the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference and former Chief Minister, Sheikh Abdullah, on his death anniversary on Monday.

National Conference Leader Tanvir Sadiq said, 'Today is the death anniversary of Sher-e-Kashmir (Sheikh Abdullah) and all National Conference workers came here. Party leadership Dr Farooq Abdullah, CM Omar Abdullah came here to read. Sher-e-Kashmir has immense contribution in health, education and other sectors. He built the Hazratbal Dargah so that Muslims can study here.'

'Sher-I-Kashmir' is a reference to National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah.

Omar Abdullah's grandfather, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, was the first Prime Minister of JK after its accession to India and later served as Chief Minister. Omar's father Farooq Abdullah has been the CM of the erstwhile state thrice.

Earlier, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah on Sunday criticised the state's Waqf Board over the installation of a stone plaque that had the national emblem inscribed on it at the revered Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar.

Speaking to reporters in Anantnag, Abdullah asserted that the concerned authorities shouldn't have installed the board at the Assar-e-Sharief Hazratbal.

'What happened in Hazratbal was wrong. They shouldn't have installed that board. My father and the people here in Habba Kadal were collecting funds for it. They reached a house where a woman had only a utensil. She gave the only thing in her possession. However, my father refused to accept it. She responded by saying, 'Sheikh sahab, I am not giving this to you. I am giving it for Nabi Kareem's Hazratbal dargah. If you don't take it, you will have to answer before Allah.' My father took the offering,' Abdullah said.

The former CM said that the authorities made the mistake of installing the board, which compelled people to register their protest.

'This dargah was constructed from the funds of people here. There was no board installation. Nobody wrote their because it was dedicated to Allah and their Rasool. They made a mistake by installing the board, which people didn't like. They voiced that it is wrong. They should understand that people here don't tolerate this,' Abdullah said.

Earlier, a viral video showed a mob defacing the national emblem on a marble plaque at the shrine, citing that sculpting figures goes against Islamic ethos.

A controversy erupted at the revered Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar when a mob vandalised the Ashoka Emblem on the foundation stone, sparking a heated debate about national symbols and religious sentiments. (ANI)