BJP demands minority status to Hindus in Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu : Demanding minority status to the Hindus in Jammu and Kashmir, BJP today said the community should be given the benefits of the welfare schemes started by the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs under the Prime Minister's new 15-point programme.

''Hindus are ‘minorities’ in the state and the term Hindu as per the Constitution of India includes Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists.

Hence, the benefits be extended to these minorities without any discrimination,'' Ramesh Arora, BJP state spokesperson told reporters at a press conference here in the morning.

The BJP leader, however, blamed National Conference and Congress- led coalition government for not extending benefits to minorities in the state as it is done in rest of the country.

''J&K government is giving step motherly treatment to the Hindus as minority community and this causal attitude will not be tolerated,'' Mr Arora said and added that party would table a bill in the forthcoming Assembly session to redress the problems of the community.

He also added that applications have been invited from the students belonging to the Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Parsi communities, notified under Section 2 (C) of the National Commission for Minorities Act 1992 as minorities, for the purpose of scholarship and other schemes.

However, on withdrawal of CRPF from Baramulla, the BJP leader said local police replacing the para-military forces in the valley are not trained enough for anti-insurgency operations.

''The state government has succumbed to the pressure of PDP and Hurriyat Conference on withdrawal of forces. The militancy will revive once the CRPF will be replaced with the local police in Kashmir,'' he asserted.