Have faith in judiciary: AMU VC on minority status

Centre’s recent decision to reverse the UPA government’s stand of supporting the university in the apex court on this issue triggers row.

January 16, 2016 01:21 pm | Updated November 17, 2021 03:40 am IST - Aligarh

As protests erupted over the Centre’s stand on the minority status of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), vice-chancellor Lt General (retd.) Zameeruddin Shah has called upon the Muslim community not to get unduly exercised on the issue and have “full faith” in judiciary.

In a written appeal on Saturday, Mr. Shah said that while all right minded citizens of the country were rightly concerned about the issue of restoration of minority character of the historic institution of higher learning, “we should have full faith in our judicial system for protecting minority rights”.

Mr. Shah’s appeal came in the wake of a number of protests by minority groups on the campus and also in the old city on Friday.

The issue of restoration of minority character of AMU is at present pending with the Supreme Court but what has triggered off the protests is the Centre’s recent decision to reverse the UPA government’s stand of supporting the university in the apex court on this issue.

On January 11, Attorney Journal Mukul Rohatagi, during the hearing of this case, had told the court that the NDA government did not support the idea of a state-funded minority institution in a secular state, sparking off a controversy.

The AMU vice-chancellor said that it would be counter productive if people get carried away on this issue or resort to unconstitutional methods of protest.

“I have sought a meeting with the Prime Minister to apprise him of the situation and I am sure that he would respond positively and address our concerns,” he said.

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.