NDTV.com: Muslims not minority in UP: HC

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Muslims not minority in UP: HC

NDTV Correspondent

Thursday, April 05, 2007, (New Delhi)

Two days ahead of the first phase of state assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Justice S N Srivastava of the Allahabad High Court has ruled that Muslims will no longer be treated as a religious minority in Uttar Pradesh.

The judge said that after considering various Census reports including those of 1951 and 2001, he was directing the state to treat Muslims as equal to other non-minority religious communities.

Justice Srivastava's ruling came in response to a petition by the Ghazipur-based Anjuman Madarsa Noor-ul-Islam challenging out of turn grant-in-aid to certain other minority institutions.

In his order, Justice Srivastava said he had applied the twin criteria of "population and strength of a religious community" as laid down in the Constitution.

The judgement directs the UP government to treat all Muslim institutions applying for grant-in-aid at par with non-minority institutions.

Politics of minorities

Several legal experts however, have pointed out that the judgement is constitutionally invalid.

The Supreme Court has already ruled that a religious minority will be defined on the basis of the state as a unit and in UP the Muslims constitute 18.5 per cent according to the 2001 census.

The BJP meanwhile said the Allahabad HC verdict is a slap on the faces of people who practice the politics of minorities.

"This is a slap on the face of those who practise the politics of minoritism. More details of the verdict are awaited. But this is a landmark judgement with wide-reaching consequences," said Rajiv Prasad Rudy, BJP spokesperson.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav said: "We will go to the Supreme Court. This judgement is a very unfortunate one. I have full confidence in the court. We will definitely appeal and get the order revised.

"Today's status of minorities will remain unchanged. This is the responsibility of the state government. The Supreme Court has already given its ruling in 2005. And the UP government has in fact granted minority status to the Jain community."

Muslim groups like the Muslim Personal Law Board are reported to have welcomed the court's words.

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