Lucknow, India - The Allahabad High Court Thursday ruled that Muslims were not entitled to be treated as religious minorities in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state.
The verdict came in a writ petition filed by a madrasa (Muslim seminary) seeking funding from the government on the plea that it was a minorities institution and hence entitled to various benefits in accordance with a declared government order.
Issuing the judgement, the bench comprising Justice S.N. Srivastava said, "Muslims are not entitled to be recognised as a religious minority."
The judge said: "The impugned order passed by Uttar Pradesh recognising opposite parties No 4 to 6 (certain minorities institutions) for grants-in-aid as religious minorities institution is quashed and it is held that any institution founded by the petitioner or by the opposite parties are not entitled to be recognised for grants-in-aid as religious minorities institution in the state."
Seeking to reason out, he added: "After applying the twin criterion of population and strength of a religious community as laid down by the founding fathers of the Indian constitution, as is clear from the proceedings of the constituent assembly, the court finds that Muslims have ceased to be a religious minority community in Uttar Pradesh."
Justice Srivastava said: "Based on the material put on record and the census report of 1951 and 2002, Muslims are not entitled to be recognised as a religious minority."
"Uttar Pradesh is directed to treat any member of the Muslim community as equal to other non-Muslim minority religious communities without discriminating in any respect in accordance with law," he added.
Moved by Ghazipur-based madrasa Noor-ul-Islam, the petition had sought the court's intervention to get itself included on the list of Islamic institutions entitled to regular government grants.
The verdict has caused a sensation in the currently volatile political circles of Uttar Pradesh where electioneering is in full swing for the seven-phase assembly poll commencing April 7.
Apart from BJP, major political parties including Congress and the CPI(M) reacted with shock over the Allahabad High Court judgement saying Muslims in Uttar Pradesh cease to be minorities.
Many Muslim religious leaders too said they would challenge the judgement in the apex court.
Though prime minister manmohan singh refused to comment, the AICC was not convinced by the High Court judgement. "What is the basis of the judgement? It appears mysterious and unconvincing. The Constitution recognises linguistic and religious minorities. We have no doubt there are sufficient grounds on which the judgement can be challenged,'' said Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi.
He said there is no statute or constitutional rule disqualifying an entire community from being a minority if they are 18 per cent of the population or so.
CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat said the party was “totally opposed” to the High Court order, while its ally CPI declined immediate comments saying it would give its considered response after studying the court order.
Union Minister Ramvilas Paswan demanded the matter be referred to a larger bench.
The BJP, however, welcomed the ruling, saying it was an indictment of the UPA government's “minority appeasement for sheer vote-bank politics”. BJP deputy leader V K Malhotra said “We welcome the judgement.”
Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Ahmad Shah Bukhari said “We will approach the apex court challenging the Allahabad High Court decision that denies minority status to Muslims in Uttar Pradesh”.
Stating that the court's decision would send a negative message among the Muslim community, he said “the heads of all major Muslim organisations will sit together to take an unanimous decision in the matter”.
Describing it as an "unfortunate" verdict, the Imam of Fatehpuri mosque Mufti Mohammed Mukaram said, "Muslims are in a minority in the country and they should get all the benefits of their status."
Mukaram questioned the criteria for the data relied upon the Allahabad high court.
“The census of 2001 was incomplete and at that time itself we had raised objections about its credibility.”
National Commission for minorities chief, hamid ansari, said “Simple arithmetic sets out which community makes up a minority”.
But Jamat-e-ulema-al Hind leader Mahmood Madani argued “We are the second largest majority in India and are against minority status for Muslims.”
“But, then we should get equal rights, facilities and opportunities enjoyed by majority communities,” said Madani.