AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi
Hyderabad: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday said that the NDA government at the Centre should accept the Supreme Court's verdict, overturning the 1967 judgment, regarding the minority status of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and support the university.
The BJP has allegedly opposed minority status for AMU over the years, and it must now correct its stance, he said.
The Supreme Court on Friday deferred the question of AMU's minority status to a new bench and overruled the 1967 judgment that stated the university could not be considered a minority institution since it was created by a central law.
"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," Owaisi wrote in a post on 'X'.
He said the "right of minorities to educate themselves has been upheld", congratulating the students and faculty of AMU.
He charged that the BJP has made every effort to attack AMU, Jamia University, and even madrasas, and added the saffron party "must introspect now".
The Centre should support AMU as it is also a Central university, he said, pointing out that Jamia receives "Rs 3 lakh per student, AMU gets Rs 3.9 lakh per student, while Banaras Hindu University (BHU) receives Rs 6.15 lakh per student." Jamia and AMU, which have consistently performed well in national rankings, could become globally renowned with the right kind of support, he stated, adding, "But for that, Modi must stop discriminating against them."