Quiet, lonely Eid for Farooq and Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti

Srinagar: It was a quiet, lonely Eid for former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti on Monday, quite unlike previous years when their homes were full of celebratory crowds of supporters, friends and family members, officials said.

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. On Monday, a week after the government's announcement, their homes in the city's posh Gupkar Road were deserted 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. Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba is at the Cheshma Shahi Hut here, officials said. Several political leaders, who were picked up on August 5, offered prayers at the Centaur Hotel here, the 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 the 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.