Omar quits 17-yr marriage, denies remarriage rumours

Reacting to the news of him being ready to remarry after calling off his 17-odd-year marriage to Payal Nath, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said such stories were completely false.

“Have seen with dismay and anguish the growing tide of speculation in the media about my private life and the status of my marriage. While it’s true my wife and i have separated, speculation about the motives and my future actions are unfounded, untrue,” Omar tweeted.

“Stories abt my remarriage are completely false, concocted. It’s a pity, while repeating these lies, no effort was made to ask me the truth.” he tweeted.

“I appeal to the media to please allow me and my family privacy. Am sure you will appreciate that i have not let this affect my work,” he tweeted adding that a “separate statement will be released shortly.”

Earlier in the day, The Times of India reported that Omar and Payal are parting “on mutual consent”.

The reason, according to the The Sunday Guardian, is a “TV anchor from the state, who the 41-year-old CM wants to marry. The anchor is a divorcee and has been in two live-in relationships since her divorce.”

The paper further reported that Abdullah senior is not too happy with the news as Omar’s new-found love is not Muslim. He’d rather want his son marry a Kashmiri Muslim, in particular, the sister-in-law of Kashmir Home Minister, Nasir Aslam Wani. Omar is ready to remarry, but not his father’s choice.

The Times of India quotes a source:

“Omar definitely knows her well — the name that’s floating online as the one he’s looking to marry — but I don’t think the part about her being responsible for the break-up, or of Omar looking to marry her, is correct. On the other hand, in J&K, talk of a marriage between a girl from the Wani family and Omar has been there for a while.”

Omar married Payal, the daughter of retired Major General Ram Nath in 1994. Ever since Omar assumed office of chief minister, Payal had been living with their sons at Akbar Road Delhi, an address Omar has avoided on his visits to the Capital recently.