The Supreme Court is looking into the case of declaring Hindus as minorities, in 6 States and 3 Union Territories of India.
New Delhi – There are several States and Union Territories of India, where Hindus have become a minority. However, the Central Government has sought more time from the Supreme Court to consider granting them minority status. The Central Government has said that this issue is sensitive and will have far-reaching consequences. Based on the petitions of Advocate (Mr) Ashwini Upadhyay and several other petitioners, the Government filed the fourth affidavit in the Court on 31st October. The Government has said that 14 States and 3 Union Territories have been consulted on the matter and reminders have been sent to other States in this regard. After the hearing, the Court has given a time of 6 months to the Government to resolve this matter.
1. But on the other hand, the petitioners say that the consideration under the ‘National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992’ cannot grant minority status to any person in any State.
2. Earlier the Supreme Court had stated that the decision of giving the religious or linguistic castes a minority status should be done at the State level and not at the District level. In a notification circulated in 1993, the Central Government declared Muslims, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Parsis as minorities at the national level. However, the petition is asking for this to be determined at the District level.
Areas where Hindus are in minority !
The petitioners said that Ladakh has 1% Hindus, Mizoram 2.75%, Lakshadweep 2.77%, Kashmir 4%, Nagaland 8.74%, Meghalaya 11.52%, Arunachal Pradesh 29%, Punjab 38.49% and Manipur 41.29%. |
IANS adds: The central government has sought more time from the Supreme Court to hold consultations with the state governments on petitions seeking to identify minorities, including Hindus, at the state level.
In a status report, the Ministry of Minority Affairs said that the 14 state governments, namely Punjab, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Nagaland, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, West Bengal, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and three union territories (UTs) namely Ladakh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, and Chandigarh have furnished their comments/views.
It added that since the comments/views of the remaining 19 state governments/UTS in the matter have not been received as on date, a reminder was sent to these states requesting them to furnish their views at the earliest so that the considered comments/views can be placed before the apex court.
“That in view of the position stated above, it is humbly submitted that since the matter is sensitive in nature and will have far-reaching ramifications, this court may kindly consider allowing more time to enable the state governments/union territories and stakeholders with whom the consultative meetings have already been held, to finalise their considered views in the matter,” said the report, which was filed in response to a PIL filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.
The ministry said the Centre has held consultative meetings with all the state governments/UTs and also with the other stakeholders viz Ministry of Home Affairs, D/o Legal Affairs Ministry of Law & Justice, D/o Higher Education- Ministry of Education, National Commission for Minorities (NCM), and National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI).
“Some of the state governments/union territories have requested for additional time to have wider consultations with all the stakeholders before they form their considered opinion on the matter,” it added.
The ministry said the state governments were requested that in view of the urgency of the matter, they should expeditiously undertake the exercise with stakeholders to ensure that views of the state government are finalised and conveyed to the Ministry of Minority Affairs at the earliest.
The central government, in August too, had sought more time from the apex court to hold wider consultation with states and UTs regarding identification of religious minorities, including Hindus, at the state level.
In May, the top court said that the Centre is uncertain and has not taken a clear stand on a plea seeking a direction to it to lay down guidelines for identification of minorities at the state level, including Hindus.
The top court said that if the Centre wants to hold consultation with the state governments in connection with granting minority status to Hindus, where they are outnumbered by other communities then it should do so.
In a previous affidavit, the ministry had said: “State governments can also declare a religious or linguistic community as a minority community within the said state. For instance, the government of Maharashtra has notified Jews as a minority community within the state of Maharashtra.”
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