Centre's next step should be to unite 'enslaved Kashmir': VHP

Kolkata, Aug 14 (IANS) Joint General Secretary of Vishwa Hindu Parishad Surendra Jain on Wednesday said abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution should have happened "a long time ago" and claimed that the next step of the centre should be to unite the "enslaved Kashmir" (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) with the Indian mainland besides implementing the Uniform Civil Court.

Jain said Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, had so far isolated the Valley from the rest of the nation, Jain said some political parties, including Congress, were desperately trying to inflict unrest and disturb peace in Kashmir.

"Not just the VHP but the entire world is of the opinion that the abrogation of Article 370 should have happened a long time back. Article 370 and 35A were not used to unite Kashmir but to divide it," Jain said on the sidelines of the launching event of VHP's fortnightly magazine 'Hindu Vishwa' here.

The senior VHP leader said Jammu and Kashmir is slowly returning to normalcy after the scrapping of article 370 last week and warned that a section of political outfits and media are spreading false news about clashes and riots in order to hide the real situation of the Valley from the world.