Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], March 30 (ANI): BJP MLA Balwant Singh on Monday said that the mass exodus of Hindus from Kashmir and parts of Jammu left numerous temples without priests or devotees to maintain them, leading to widespread encroachment, making them consider bringing a private member bill. in the assembly session.

The Jammu and Kashmir Temples and Land Protection Bill would be introduced in the ongoing state assembly session.

Speaking to ANI, he said, 'After the militancy era of 1987, Hindus had to flee from Kashmir and many parts of the Jammu division. As a result, there were neither priests left to maintain the temples nor people to visit them. Many people occupied the temples. They encroached upon the temple land.... We felt that we needed to bring a bill to make a law so that the temple property could be returned to the temple trusts or their committees.'

Seperately, Mankotia also asserted that Pakistan's situation would 'get worse' in future, asserting that 'terrorist hideouts' would not regenerate in the region.

Speaking to ANI, he said, 'Pakistan's condition is going to get worse in the coming time... We will not let any terrorist hideouts regrow.'

His remarks come after a US Congressional research report of March 25 stated that U.S. officials have identified Pakistan as a base of operations for numerous armed, terror groups, some of which have existed since the 1980s.

According to the report the terror groups are ether globally oriented, Afghanistan oriented, India oriented, domestic, or sectarian in nature.

Twelve of these terror groups are designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) under U.S. law and most follow Islamist extremist ideology.

The report says several major military offensives, including airstrikes, and hundreds of thousands of 'intelligence-based operations' have failed to defeat the numerous U.S.- and United Nations-designated terrorist groups that continue to operate on Pakistani soil. (ANI)