Chief minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said he had met Union minority affairs minister Kiren Rijiju at Srinagar’s Tulip garden on Monday by chance, trying to clear the air on the controversy around the interaction that coincided with Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather disallowing a debate on the Waqf Act in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.

Omar broke his silence on the issue on the day lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha’s administration prevented the Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulema — an association of religious bodies led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq — from holding a meeting to discuss the Waqf Act. Forces were deployed and barricades erected outside the Mirwaiz’s home and some other places to forestall the meeting.

In Jammu, Speaker Rather, a veteran leader of the National Conference, rebuffed calls in the House seeking a debate on the Act on the third consecutive day.

Omar faced massive criticism not only because of the Speaker’s action but also for getting photographed with Rijiju, who had introduced the Waqf (Amendment) Billin Parliament.

The chief minister said he had a chance meeting with Rijiju and did not want to misbehave when he wanted to be photographed with him. However, such coincidences are rare in Kashmir where VIPs move with a large security caravan.

“It is true that I took my father (Farooq Abdullah) to the Tulip garden. It was a coincidence that a central minister was present there. We exchanged greetings. He wanted to click pictures with me. Should I have refused that? Should I have misbehaved with him? He wanted a picture, so I clicked a picture with him,” Omar claimed.