Farooq Abdullah meets party leader after two months of detention in Srinagar

Srinagar : National Conference chief Omar Abdullah and his father and party patriarch Farooq Abdullah met their party leaders on Sunday for the first time after they were sent into the house arrest following government's decision to revoke Article 370 of the Indian constitution from Jammu and Kashmir.

After the meeting, senior NC leaders Akbar Lone and Hasnain Masoodi told NDTV, "We had come to ask about their well-being. No politics was discussed".

The two leaders, however, claimed that they will not be contesting the Block Development Council -- the second tier of the Panchayat Raj system in the state -- because the "entire leadership is in jail".

Two months later the Centre's decision, the government has relaxed restrictions in Jammu and Kashmir. While all detained political leaders in Jammu were released, Farooq Khan, advisor to Governor Satya Pal Malik, said the Kashmiri leaders would be released in a phased manner.

Yesterday, senior BJP leader Ram Madhav said, "Very soon they will have their freedom. We want normal political activity to be restored in the state. But it has to be normal political activity".

Today, the Abdullahs also met a 15-member delegation from their party, led by provincial president Devender Singh Rana.