Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju has addressed the controversy surrounding his encounter with Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his father Farooq Abdullah at the Tulip Garden, asserting that their meeting was purely coincidental.
“A pleasant morning stroll evolved into a political discussion, even echoed in the J&K Assembly! I briefly met CM Omar Abdullah sahab and Farooq Abdullah sahab at the Tulip Garden during an early morning visit to minimize disruption for daytime visitors and tourists,” Rijiju stated on his X account.
“We exchanged greetings! Let’s appreciate the beauty of Kashmir beyond political matters!” he added.
Opposition parties in the region have criticized the Abdullahs for their unplanned meeting with Rijiju, labeling it as a red-carpet welcome for the “architect of anti-Muslim amendments” to the Waqf (Amendment) Act.
Rijiju had introduced the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in both houses of Parliament during the recent Budget Session.
The issue was raised in the J-K Legislative Assembly, where PDP MLA Waheed Ur Rehman Para, advocating for a resolution against the Waqf law, questioned Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s absence from the House for the second consecutive day.
Para remarked, “He should have been present because this matter concerns Muslim properties such as mosques, shrines, and graveyards… He is extending a red-carpet welcome to Union Minister Kiren Rijiju in the Tulip Garden.
The reality is that the National Conference supports the BJP. This Bill has sparked resentment among the 240 million Muslim population, yet they are normalizing the Act through their actions. They are unwilling to support a resolution against the Act.”
PDP President Mehbooba Mufti, while urging the J-K Assembly to pass a resolution rejecting the parliamentary amendments to the Waqf Act, also referenced the encounter between Omar Abdullah and Rijiju, suggesting that it signaled a message to the nation’s 240 million Muslims.
The ruling National Conference (NC) dismissed these accusations as unfounded.
“Following the passage of the Waqf Amendment Bill through Parliament, Minister Kiren Rijiju chose to visit Kashmir. He received a red-carpet welcome from the Chief Minister of India’s sole Muslim-majority state—an act that seemed deliberate to convey to India’s 240 million Muslims that their opinions are disregarded when the leader of their region endorses the decision,” Mufti stated.
“The setting of Asia’s largest tulip garden made it seem like a public celebration of the community’s marginalization and disempowerment,” she added.
The PDP president argued that Abdullah’s actions intensified feelings of alienation and helplessness within the Muslim community.
“The chief minister’s actions not only heightened feelings of alienation and helplessness within the Muslim community but also legitimized a unilateral decision widely perceived as dismissive of their interests,” she said.
