Srinagar, Sep 15 (IANS): Distressed over the "growing tide of speculation" about the status of his marriage, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Thursday appealed to the media for "space and privacy".

In a statement issued through the directorate of information, Abdullah said he had noted with "considerable dismay and anguish the growing tide of speculation in the media" about his private life, particularly his marriage.

Responding to a prominent report in Delhi Times, a Times of India publication, he said: "While it is true my wife and I have separated the speculation about motives and about my future course of action are unfounded, untrue and deeply hurtful to all concerned. The stories about my remarriage are completely false and concocted. It is a pity that while repeating these lies no effort was made to ask me whether any of this is true. In the process a lot of people have been hurt."

The media in India, he said, has a well established, undeclared, code of conduct that keeps the private lives of public figures by and large private. "I believe my family and I are entitled to that privacy. At this point my concern has to and will remain my young sons who do not deserve to see themselves splashed across the news channels and pages of newspapers in this manner."

He said while his private life had gone through a period of "unprecedented upheaval", he had not allowed it to affect his work in any way.

"It is with this in mind that I make a humble appeal to the media to please allow my family and me the space and privacy to deal with what we are going through.

"My family and I will not be issuing any more statements or taking any further questions about any of this and I hope the media will respect this decision," the chief minister said in the unusual statement.