"Important Day For Muslims Of India": Owaisi On Supreme Court Verdict Over AMU Minority Status
Hyderabad, Telangana: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi has reacted to the Supreme Court ruling, overriding the 1967 verdict and observing that the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) minority status cannot be lost merely because it was constituted by a statute. Calling the verdict “an important day for Muslims of India,” the Hyderabad MP elaborated on the rights of the minorities under Article 30 to establish and administer their institutions.
Paving the way to resorting to the minority status of the prestigious central university, the top court said that the decision on the matter will be decided based on who established the institution. Islamic reformer Sir Syed Ahmad Khan established the institution in 1875 as Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College, which later became Aligarh Muslim University, aimed at promoting the social, scientific, and economic upliftment of the Indian Muslims.
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However, as per the apex court’s ruling, the minority status of the university will be decided by a separate regular bench later.
In a social media post while congratulating the AMU students and faculty members, the AIMIM leader said that the rights of minorities to educate themselves have been upheld. “It does not matter if the university was established before the Constitution or if it was set up by a law of the government. It is a minority institution if it was established by minorities,” he said.
Stating that all the arguments of the BJP were rejected, Owaisi reminded that the saffron party had opposed minority status for AMU for all these years. Slamming the BJP-led government, Owaisi said it had made every effort to attack AMU and Jamia and the right to even run madrasas, and added that the BJP must introspect and go for a course correction.
The AIMIM leader then asked the Union Government to take the judgement in its stride while demanding to support AMU, pointing out that it is also a central university. “Jamia (Jamia Millia Islamia) gets ₹3L per student, AMU gets ₹3.9L per student, but BHU (Banaras Hindu University) gets ₹6.15L,” Owaisi said, adding that Jamia and AMU have consistently performed well in national rankings.
Appealing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop discriminating, Owaisi asserted that the universities could be globally renowned with the right support. “AMU’s Kishanganj center has been languishing for the past many years. This must also be addressed urgently, and the center should begin working as soon as possible,” Owaisi added.
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1. It is an important day for Muslims of India. The 1967 judgement had rejected minority status of #AMU when in fact it was. Article 30 states that minorities have the right to establish and administer their educational institutions in a manner that they deem fit.
2. The right…— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) November 8, 2024
The AMU Kishanganj centre has been facing an acute fund crunch as well as legal issues over the land provided by the Bihar government. Despite the UPA government’s approval of Rs 136 crore and release of Rs 10 crore, the institution has not received any grant yet, according to AMU-Kishanganj Director Dr. Hassan Imam.
