Srinagar, Sept. 8 -- National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Sunday said the controversy at the Hazratbal shrine could have been avoided had the current Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board not installed the plaque with the Ashoka emblem at the shrine.

"There was no need to install the plaque. They put it up and people did not like it," Abdullah told reporters in Anantnag, where he attended a condolence meeting.

Calling the installation a mistake that should not have occurred, the former chief minister emphasised that Hazratbal and other shrines were built through the contributions of the people, not as favours from anyone.

"When Sher-e-Kashmir (Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah) oversaw the construction, he did not put any board on the shrine...