Farooq Abdullah draws flak for phone use during anthem

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".

--IANS

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