Wading into the controversy around the unsavoury remarks by Maldivian ministers and government officials against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, National Conference (NC) patriarch Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday said the 'rising hatred' against Muslims in the country may have something to do with it.

Speaking to ANI on Tuesday, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said, considering how New Delhi stood with the island country in the previous years and even prevented it from being occupied by a foreign power, he was at a loss to understand why the Maldivian leaders reacted in the manner they did.