Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s much-touted slogan, “Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas,” sounds hollow, as minorities have been at the receiving end since he assumed office in May 2014. Even institutions and organizations related to their welfare have not been spared. The latest victim in this series is the 35-year-old Maulana Azad Education Foundation (MAEF). One fine morning, the Modi administration, without giving any plausible reason, announced its closure. The decision was immediately challenged in the Delhi High Court, which passed an interim order directing the authorities not to act on their decision until the next date of hearing. MAEF is an organization that helps students and institutions that serve Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians who are minorities in India.
While responding to a petition challenging the order of MAEF closure, the Modi government argued that the foundation was established at a time when there was no Ministry of Minority Affairs. It stated that once the relevant authorities have decided to dissolve the foundation in accordance with the law, there cannot be a continuing monopoly over the promotion of minorities.
Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma told a bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Mini Pushkarna that “currently, a specialized ministry exists, equipped with adequate staff, which has been effectively executing a range of initiatives tailored to meet the needs of the minority communities in a thorough and holistic manner. Given this context, the continued operation is rendered obsolete.”
The ASG further said the foundation’s formal projects and efforts have been incorporated into or superseded by similar ministry initiatives, and the petitioners are not permitted to direct the executive on matters of policy.
“There are now specialized schemes. So the forking of benefits to minority communities is now point-focused. Whatever foundation did, could not do, should have done, ought to have done, is now subsumed in the ministry. And, anyway, it was 100 percent government funding,” he stated.
The ASG also claimed that many projects initiated by the foundation were still incomplete.
“1600 projects were initiated by them. 523 were incomplete to date. As a result, the ministry has undertaken 75,000 projects. The ministry conducted a gap analysis, and various irregularities were found,” he said. Furthermore, he said the decision for its dissolution was taken in strict adherence to legal protocols.
“The fact of the matter is that today the decision is made based on information given to the governing body. A unanimous decision to dissolve the society was reached by 12 of the 15 members who took part in the deliberations,” ASG Sharma said.
Appearing for the petitioners, Sardar Daya Singh, Dr. John Dayal, and Dr. Syeda Saiyidain Hameed, senior advocate Anand Grover argued that the decision to abolish MAEF was illegal.
The petitioners filed an appeal with the high court earlier this month against the ministry’s February 7order, which directed the 1989-founded MAEF to expedite the closure process and submit a copy of the closure certificate issued by the Delhi government’s Registrar of Societies upon completion of all procedures, in accordance with current laws.
The directive from the ministry was given in response to a suggestion to close the MAEF that was received on January 21 from the Central Waqf Council.
In their PIL, they claimed that the ministry’s directive was arbitrary, without jurisdiction, wholly malafide, and a reprehensible exercise of power by the authorities, in addition to denying worthy students – especially girls – access to the benefits of MAEF programs.
The petition, submitted via attorney Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi, contended that a number of students’ lives, schools, and non-governmental organizations would undoubtedly suffer as a result of the sudden, opaque, and utterly arbitrary decision to dismantle an institution that has existed for almost four decades and rob its assets and funds.
While putting the stay on the government order, the Division Bench of the Delhi High Court further ordered the Ministry to provide an explanation of the measures being taken to guarantee the continuation of MAEF’s welfare programs as well as to clarify its stance on the matter.
The MAEF provides funding to non-governmental organizations involved in minority education as well as scholarships such as the Maulana Azad National Scholarship. Nevertheless, the government ended this scholarship in 2022. The Maulana Azad Memorial Lecture and Awareness Program, the Maulana Azad National Scholarship for deserving girls, and grant-in-aid for non-governmental organizations are among the services offered by MAEF.
The Central Waqf Council (CWC), it is said, suggested closing MAEF, and the Minority Ministry took action. The petitioners, however, disagreed with the legality of the plan, claiming that the CWC is an ineffective organization. They also claimed that the foundation’s own rules and the Societies Registration Act were broken by the ministry’s directive to move MAEF’s assets and money.
The petitioners claimed that there was insufficient rationale for the closure and that it would have a detrimental effect on the community MAEF serves. They stressed that in making such decisions, openness and respect for the law are essential.
The decision to shutter MAEF was met with criticism from political and community leaders. They also expressed worry about the lack of openness in the closing process, citing the lack of an independent board member and a full-time foundation secretary. They questioned whether it was lawful to give the CWC, which is not yet completely constituted, control over the foundation’s assets and employee liabilities.
Speaking with Radiance, former Minority Affairs Minister K Rehman Khan said it was a shocking decision of the ministry and a deliberate attempt to mislead the country ahead of the general election. He emphasized that a number of minority-related organizations, including the CWC and the Haj Committee of India, existed prior to the establishment of a separate minority ministry that was separated from the social justice ministry in January 2006, and that the arguments put forth by the ministry through the ASG in the Court are without merit. Since these organizations are now under the minority ministry’s jurisdiction, should the ministry dissolve them using the justifications stated above in order to destroy the MAEF? the former minister asked.
Mohammad Adeeb, former MP, claimed that the Modi government used strange justifications to support its decision to close the organization. In conversation with Radiance, he also conveyed his dismay at the Vice-Chancellors of Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University signing the “death warrant”for MAEF. It is to be noted that the VCs of AMU and JMI were among the seven members of the trust that runs MAEF. Seconding his views, Mohammad Wazir Ansari, former MAEF secretary, while talking to Radiance, also slammed both the VCs for buckling under government pressure. He also ruptured the ASG’s arguments, saying they reflect the government’s ‘Manuwadi’ mindset towards minorities and weaker sections of society.
Radiance reached out to both VCs through the public relations department of these institutions but did not get any response.
Meanwhile, NCP MP Dr. Fauzia Khan also wrote a letter to Smriti Irani, who holds the additional charge of minority affairs, asking her to reconsider the closure of MAEF. However, Adeeb is optimistic about the future of MAEF, as the matter is pending before the Delhi High Court.