New Delhi: The government of India, to oppose Jamia Milia Islamia ‘minority tag’, has filed an affidavit in the Delhi High Court. The centre on Wednesday had reportedly moved to the court against the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions for declaring a Central University as a minority institution.
In a 2011 affidavit, the HRD ministry had agreed with the commission’s decision. However, according to the fresh affidavit on March 5, Jamia Millia Islamia is not a minority institution as it was set up by an Act of Parliament and funded by the central government.
“Treating a central university as a minority education institution is repugnant to law besides undermining its status and is against the basic tenet of a central university,” reads the affidavit as quoted by Scroll.in. “By no stretch of the imagination, Article 30(1) could be read to mean that even if an educational institution has been established by a Central Act, still the minority has the right to administer it.”
Meanwhile, the commission said the University was mentioned under “Article 30 (1), read with Section 2 (g) of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions Act”.