New Delhi | Opposition leaders on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court decision on the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), with the Congress's Abhishek Singhvi saying the judgment is "highly commendable" for the constitutional wisdom with which it recognises the raison d'etre for the very creation of the university.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, said the Centre will "firmly" put forth its stand on the question of the university's minority status when a new bench of the Supreme Court takes up the matter for hearing.
The apex court held on Friday that the legal question over the AMU's minority status would be decided by a new bench and overruled a 1967 judgment that said the university cannot be considered a minority institution since it was created by a central law.
"The majority judgment is highly commendable for the tensile strength, the constitutional wisdom and the historical depth with which it recognises the original genesis and raison d'être for the very creation of AMU," Congress MP Singhvi told PTI.
The provision of comprehensive, progressive and modern education with a special focus on minorities was the basis of the whole idea and the mere fact that subsequently, it got the added status of a central university cannot and should not ever detract from that original seed and original intent, he said.
"It is good to see that the majority recognises, restores and continues a settled status, which was unfortunately deliberately and mischievously sought to be unsettled by the powers that be," the senior advocate said.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi hailed the verdict and said it is an important day for Muslims in India.
"The 1967 judgement had rejected minority status of AMU when in fact it was. Article 30 states that minorities have the right to establish and administer their educational institutions in a manner that they deem fit," Owaisi said in a post on X.
The right of the minorities to educate themselves has been upheld, he added.
"I congratulate all students and faculty of AMU today. It does not matter if the university was established before the Constitution, or if it was set up by a law of the government. It is a minority institution if it was established by minorities. All the arguments of the BJP were rejected," the Hyderabad MP said.
"The BJP has opposed minority status for AMU for all these years. What is it going to do now? It has made every effort to attack AMU and Jamia, and our right to even run madrasas. BJP must introspect and go for a course correction," he said.
Owaisi further said the Narendra Modi government should take the verdict in its stride.
"It should support AMU as it is also a central university. Jamia gets Rs 3 lakh per student, AMU gets Rs 3.9 lakh per student, but BHU gets Rs 6.15 lakh," he said, adding that the Jamia Millia Islamia University and the AMU have consistently performed well in national rankings.
With the right kind of support, these universities could be globally renowned, Owaisi said.
"But for that, Modi must stop discriminating against them. AMU's Kishanganj centre has been languishing for the past many years. This must also be addressed urgently and the Centre should begin working as soon as possible," he said.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Hannan Mollah said the Supreme Court's observations have shown that the AMU was established by minorities.
"Parliament can make laws for the majority, minority, all sections. Parliament cannot take away the rights of the weaker sections. It is there to protect the interests of the weaker sections. If their (minorities') institutions are taken away, they will be deprived of their rights. Instead of giving this confusing opinion, they should correctly say that it is a minority institution," he said.
Abdul Hafiz Gandhi, national spokesperson of the Samajwadi Party, said, "We welcome this judgment and it has provided the framework within which it will be possible for the AMU to get the minority status."
"It has further strengthened Article 30 of the Constitution which establishes the rights of the minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. This judgment will pave the way for the AMU to qualify for a minority institution," he said.
At a press conference, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said, "The central government, which is a party (to the petition), will put forward its case very strongly. The Supreme Court, the primary duty of which is to interpret the provisions of the Constitution, will do so."
The BJP believes in the Constitution, he added.
BJP's IT department head Amit Malviya posted on X the remarks of some of the political "stalwarts" who had opposed the granting of the minority tag to the AMU during debates in Parliament in 1972.
"Here is a look at what some of the stalwarts had to say, during parliamentary debates, opposing granting of minority tag to AMU," he said, posting the remarks of former education minister S Nurul Hasan, former DMK MP C T Dhandapani and former Congress MP from Baramulla Syed Ahmed Aga.
In a 4:3 majority verdict, a Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said a legislation or an executive action that discriminates against religious or linguistic minorities in establishing or administering educational institutions is ultra vires Article 30(1) of the Constitution.
