Srinagar, July 23 -- Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday called on the Centre to hold talks with students protesting over the paper leak issue, saying their concerns should not be ignored.

Reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's post on setting up fast-track courts for paper leak cases, Abdullah said, "You have to sit down and talk to them somewhere. You can't ignore so many young people."

Referring to the ongoing protests in Delhi, the Chief Minister said the scale of the demonstrations had increased over time and alleged that tear gas had been used around Jantar Mantar on Wednesday night.

"When there was the first program of the CJP at Jantar Mantar, and only a few people attended, some people started mockin...