'Minority' Hindus not getting a fair deal in educational rights

Denying any religious minority its right to establish and administer an educational institution of its choice amounts to the violation of the basic rights guaranteed under Articles 29 and 30 of our Constitution.

Hearing a PIL seeking the Supreme Court's directions to declare Hindus as minority community in states, wherein this community is outnumbered by others, a bench of Supreme Court Justices U U Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat and Sudhanshu Dhulia rightly observed on July 18 that any such community could be a religious or linguistic minority community.

The Bench said, "A Sikh institution in Punjab getting minority status is a travesty of justice. Christians who are in majority in Nagaland and Mizoram can't be said to be minority in those states." The Bench referred to the apex Court's verdict in the TMA Pai case (2002) and emphasized the exercise for deciding minority status had to be decided state-wise and not nationally.

Heading the Bench, Justice Lalit said, "Every person in this country can be a minority. I can be a minority outside my state, Maharashtra. Similarly, a Kannada speaking person may be in minority in states other than Karnataka."

According to the PIL in the present context, the followers of Judaism, Bahaism and Hinduism are the minorities in Ladakh, Mizoram, Lakshadweep, Kashmir, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Punjab and Manipur. But they cannot establish and administer the educational institutions of their choice because of non-identification of 'minority' at the state level.

One finds this matter merits a priority enlightened consideration across the national spectrum in the public interest. Denying any religious minority its right to establish and administer an educational institution of its choice amounts to the violation of the basic rights guaranteed under Articles 29 and 30 of our Constitution. This practice is sheer discrimination against the communities concerned. This is against the very spirit of secularism our Republic takes pride in. This practice must hence go, the sooner, the better.

Well-meaning observers suggest it is high time the Hindus are no longer ignored wherever they are in minority in the country. They must have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their own choice and foster their moral-spiritual development.

According to an estimate, Hindus are a mere one per cent in Ladakh, 2.75% in Mizoram, 2.77% in Lakshadweep, 4% in Kashmir, 8.74% in Nagaland, 11.52% in Meghalaya, 29% in Arunachal Pradesh, 38.49% in Punjab and 41.29% in Manipur.

The governments of the states concerned should see to it that they are declared a 'minority' in their areas and they avail of their basic right to run and administer educational institutions as their other religious counterparts do elsewhere in the country.

(Jagdish N. Singh is a senior journalist based in New Delhi. He is also Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, New York)

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