A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the validity of the Centre’s 26-year-old notification declaring five communities — Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsees — as minorities.
The petition filed by advocate and BJP member Ashwini KumarUpadhyay has sought to declare as unconstitutional section 2 (c) of theNational Commission for Minority Act, 1992, under which the notification wasissued on October 23, 1993.
He has sought direction for laying down of guidelines fordefining the term ‘minority’, based on state-wise population of a communityinstead of the national average.
He contended that the notification was violative offundamental rights to health, education, shelter and livelihood. It is alsoagainst the equality, justice and secularism, the great golden goals set out inPreamble to the Constitution, he said.
The advocate said he was filing the public interestlitigation (PIL) on the issue as he did not receive any response on hisrepresentation from Union Home Ministry, Ministry of Law & Justice andNational Commission for Minorities.
Upadhyay filed the fresh petition as the apex court on hispetition on February 11 had asked him to approach the NCM, with the directionthat it will decide within three months on his representation which soughtlaying down of guidelines for defining the term ‘minority’ based on state-wisepopulation of a community instead of the national average.
In his petition, the BJP leader said Hindus, who are amajority community as per national data, are a minority in severalnorth-eastern states and in Jammu and Kashmir.
However, the Hindu community is deprived of benefits whichare available to the minority communities in these states, the plea said,adding that NCM should reconsider the definition of minority in this context.
The plea sought to declare section 2(c) of the NCM Act 1992″void” and “inoperative” for being “arbitrary”,”unreasonable” and “offending”.
The definition of “Minority” as per Article 29-30has left leakages in the hands of State, which shall be misused and are been misused for political benefits,the petition said, adding that the minority status be granted to Hindus instates where the number of the community has decreased.
The plea had sought minority status for Hindus in sevenstates and one Union Territory where the number of the community has fallendown, according to the Census 2011.The petition stated that as per 2011 Census,Hindus are minority in eight states — Lakshadweep (2.5 percent), Mizoram (2.75percent), Nagaland (8.75 percent), Meghalaya (11.53 percent), J&K (28.44percent), Arunachal Pradesh (29 percent), Manipur (31.39 percent) and Punjab(38.40 percent)..