Baramulla, Jammu and Kashmir: Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was addressing a public rally in Kashmir's Baramulla on Wednesday, halted his speech for azaan (a prayer call) from a nearby mosque.
When the home minister heard the 'azaan' from the mosque, he asked if anything was going on in the mosque. After confirming with people, he took a brief pause before restarting the speech with permission from the audience
When someone on the stage told him that 'Azaan' was going on, Amit Shah stopped his speech immediately, attracting a huge round of applause and chanting of slogans in his favor from the gathering.
After a brief moment, he said that the call for prayer has now stopped and asked if he could continue his speech.
"Should I resume my speech or not? Say it loudly, should I resume my speech," he asked the gathering. He then went on with his speech.
Earlier, soon after his arrival, Amit Shah started his speech in front of a massive gathering in Kashmir's Baramulla where people stood in long lines and had been waiting for hours to hear the Home Minister.
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Jitender Singh, who was also present on the stage, did not address the gathering.
While addressing the rally, Shah ruled out holding talks with Pakistan and vowed to wipe out terrorism from Jammu and Kashmir. He said terrorism in J&K has claimed 42,000 lives since the 1990s.
"Those who ruled for 70 years are saying talk to Pakistan. Why should we talk to Pakistan? We will not talk. We will talk to the people of Baramulla, we will talk to the people of Kashmir," Amit Shah said.
During his three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir which ended on Wednesday, Shah took stock of the security situation in a meeting held with senior officials in Srinagar.