If you want independent Kashmir, go to Pakistan, says Praveen Togadia: VHP leader no stranger to controversy

A day after former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah said  Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) belongs to Islamabad, VHP leader Pravin Togadia said those talking about independent Kashmir should go to Pakistan. “Kashmir is an integral part of India. People talking about independent Kashmir should go to Pakistan or else our security forces are ready with AK47s at the border to deal with them,” the VHP’s working international president said on Sunday. [caption id=“attachment_2025249” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Pravin Togadia. Image credit: IBNLive[/caption] Abdullah had said on Saturday that PoK belongs to Pakistan and “this won’t change”, no matter how many wars India and Pakistan fight. Controversial Togadia It wasn’t the only contentious statement made by the VHP leader. He also said the Censor Board should take a firm stand over Bollywood movie Padmavati, and stop its release. “Padmawati was a great queen, why should people protest against the movie based on her life? It’s the responsibility of the Censor Board. It should take a stand and not allow the movie to be released,” he said. And that wasn’t all. Togadia also hailed said Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s frequent visits to temples in poll-bound Gujarat as a “victory” for Hindus. “Rahul Gandhi frequents temples in Gujarat every now and then. I see this as a victory for Hindus,” he said. The VHP leader has been no stranger to controversy. In the past, Togadia had asked India to take Donald Trump’s lead and bomb Pakistan in order to secure Kulbhushan Jadhav’s release. Hindustan Times quoted Togadia as saying, “Trump showed how it’s America First for him by bombing IS hideouts in Afghanistan, which is more than 10,000 km from Washington. Our government should show similar resolve of India First by bombing Pakistan, which is barely 800 km from New Delhi and securing the Indian soldier’s release,” In May 2015, Togadia had proposed to make India a Hindu nation by removing the word “secular” from the Constitution. “This will ensure that only Hindus become prime ministers, chief ministers, judges and police chiefs,” he had said. His remarks had  seemingly earned him rebuke even from Narendra Modi when he was a prime-ministerial candidate, who had tweeted, “Petty statements by those claiming to be BJP’s well wishers are deviating the campaign from the issues of development & good governance.”

Petty statements by those claiming to be BJP's well wishers are deviating the campaign from the issues of development & good governance.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 22, 2014

With inputs from PTI