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Farooq Abdullah draws flak for phone use during anthem 5/27/2016 11:15:11 PM Agencies Kolkata, May 27: A video of Jammu and Kashmir's former chief minister Farooq Abdullah talking on the phone while the national anthem was being played on Friday at the oath-taking ceremony of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee grabbed eye balls on social media. In the nearly-one minute video doing the rounds on microblogging site Twitter, Abdullah is seen with the phone clutched to his ear and speaking while the national anthem is on, in sharp contrast to a solemn Banerjee and her elected ministers standing at attention. The National Conference chief is seen standing next to former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad. Some were mouthing the anthem lyrics while others like Firhad Hakim, who was sworn-in as minister, had their palm on their heart in respect. Netizens slammed the veteran leader. "How patriot and nationalist Farooq Abdullah can afford to insult the nation and anthem like this," tweeted one while others dubbed Abdullah's phone talk "really shameful". The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dubbed the incident as unfortunate and asked Abdullah to tender an apology. "It is the responsibility of every Indian to respect the national anthem. Dr. Farooq Abdullah is an eminent politician, we don't expect such behaviour from leaders like him," said BJP leader Ravinder Raina. "Nothing is more unfortunate than disrespecting the national anthem. It is highly condemnable. He owes an explanation. He should tender an apology," he added. Meanwhile, National Panther Party (NPP) also condemned the act and called for strict action against the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister. "It is disrespect to the national anthem... It should be taken seriously followed by action," said NPP leader Harshdev Singh. Abdullah stirred a controversy earlier today as was caught on camera talking on phone during the national anthem at Banerjee's swearing-in ceremony as the West Bengal Chief Minister for the second consecutive term.   Share This News with Your Friends on Social Network     Comment on this Story

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