The movement for the restoration of Minority Character of Jamia is rapidly gaining momentum. Scores of meetings have been held in this regard in recent past. Yet another meeting ‘Preservation of Minority Character of Jamia’ pressing for the same demand was organised by the Abul Fazal Resident Welfare Association (AFRWA) at the Conference Hall of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) in New Delhi on February 4.
One of the key resolutions passed unanimously at the end of the meeting was that OBC/SC/ST quota provision for the admissions should not be followed because Central Education (CE) Act 2006 clearly negates such concessions for the minority institutions. Participants also demanded for at least 50 per cent of reservations for Muslims in every department of Jamia.
Convener of Jamia Minority Status Coordination Committee, Mr. Ilyas Malik was of the view that since Jamia is the realisation of the dream of our elders who had established it for the development of their young generation so that after obtaining higher education from this institution they could participate in the national development. Mr. Malik blamed the government of India for being “non-serious” and “partisan” in restoring the minority character of Jamia.
Prof. Ibraheem’s standpoint was that if the OBC quota were to be implemented in Jamia then it will not be possible to regain the Minority character of Jamia. He was particularly worried over the diminishing number of Muslim students in various professional courses of Jamia in the recent years. Prof. Nusratullah termed Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) as “Milli Heritage”. Narrating the history and culture of Jamia in vivid details, he asked the government to “immediately restore the minority character of Jamia as well as ensure a minimum of 50 per cent reservations for Muslims in each and every department of Jamia”. Former President of Jamia Students Union (JSU) Mr. Shams Pervez urged the Muslims to immediately take up the task of restoring the minority character of Jamia.