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Minorities being denied constitutional rights
PHYSICIAN AND social activist Dr Aziz Ahmad on Tuesday said there was a deep-rooted conspiracy to deprive minorities of rights provided to them by the Constitution of India. He said he would convene a meeting of the Aligarh Muslim University Old Boys? Association to go through the judgement delivered by the High Court and discuss the future course of action. Talking to HT, Dr Ahmad said Articles 29 and 30 of the Constitution gave the minorities the right to open, run and manage their educational institutions.
PHYSICIAN AND social activist Dr Aziz Ahmad on Tuesday said there was a deep-rooted conspiracy to deprive minorities of rights provided to them by the Constitution of India.
He said he would convene a meeting of the Aligarh Muslim University Old Boys’ Association to go through the judgement delivered by the High Court and discuss the future course of action.
Talking to Hindustan Times, Dr Ahmad said Articles 29 and 30 of the Constitution gave the minorities the right to open, run and manage their educational institutions.
He said the Constitution clearly mentioned that the State would not discriminate against any person or institution in the name of religion. Therefore, the AMU had been getting assistance from the Government of India like other universities.
Ahmad said whenever the Congress came to power, efforts were made to deprive the AMU of its minority status and the issue of Muslim Personal Law was raised to divert the attention of the community from their basic problems.
He said a movement for reservation for minorities was gathering momentum.
He said since the community was now demanding its share in administration and government, there was a move to divert its attention from major issues.
He said the Old Boys’ Association would discuss the recently delivered decision with legal experts to draw up a suitable strategy.
He said the erstwhile NDA Government had hatched a conspiracy to review the Constitution and take away rights guaranteed to minorities under Articles 29 and 30.
He said the Muslim University Council was constituted in 1911 and Sir Sayyed Ahmad Khan was the founder of the university. He appealed to the minority community to restrain themselves on this issue. Ahmad said, “How can we claim to be a secular society” if the existence of the AMU became untenable.
Meanwhile, the Gorakhnath Purvanchal Vikas Manch organised a programme at the Conference Hall of Gorakhpur University in which legal experts welcomed the verdict of the Allahabad High Court.
