In a statement that is likely to create argument, Bharti Janta Party general secretary in Jammu and Kashmir has declared that Hindus “cannot be a minority anywhere in India”Deciding the idea that Hindus should be allotted the minority-status in Muslim controlled state of Jammu and Kashmir, Bharti JantaParty Ashok Koul said, “How they can be a minority anywhere when in general they represent a majority in the country.”

Ashok Koul further said that in his personal view, Hindus do not feel that they are a minority anywhere in the country and they should also not “treat themselves as a minority even in Jammu and Kashmir”, the Indian Express reported.Explaining his stand further, the BJP leader said, “If male associate are in minority at one village and females at some other village, does it mean that any of them is a minority. Likewise, how can Hindus be a social group in India when they constitute its majority population?”His statements come a week after the Jammu and Kashmir government filed an testimony in the Supreme Court regarding the grant of minority status into Hindus in the state. The PDP-BJP government in J&K opposed the issuance of such a grant in its affidavit.

Ashok Koul’s statements are contentious as he is not only a BJP leader but also belongs to the Kashmiri Pandit community, members of which were forced to migrate from the Muslim-dominated Kashmir Valley in the 1990s due to militancy.