J&K Government ducks the Hindu minority benefits issue: Regime tells Supreme Court that it has no plans to set up panel for smaller communities
- PDP-BJP alliance statement comes as a blow to Hindus in the state
- It came in response to Jammu-based lawyer Ankur Sharma’s public interest litigation which contended that a panel was needed
- Sharma said without one minority communities were missing out on benefits
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The Mehbooba Mufti government on Monday told the Supreme Court that it has no plans to set up a minority commission in Jammu and Kashmir – a statement that comes as a jolt to Hindus who comprise 28.4 per cent of the state’s population.
An affidavit to this effect was filed in response to public interest litigation (PIL) by a Jammu-based lawyer Ankur Sharma.
The petitioner contended that in the absence of such a panel, benefits exclusively meant for minority communities like Hindus and Sikhs, including aid worth crores, are being given away to the Muslim community in an ‘illegal and arbitrary’ manner.
Statement came in response to Jammu-based lawyer Ankur Sharma’s public interest litigation which contended that a panel was needed (picture for representation)
Virtually ruling out setting up a commission, the state government said implementation of National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 is not binding and is the sole prerogative of the state legislature.
‘The state government will however consider and examine the need and feasibility of setting up of State Minority Commission at the relevant point of time as and when need arises based upon the critical study of the social and educational backwardness of the minorities spread across various regions of Jammu and Kashmir,’ reads the affidavit.
It merely says that ‘considering the special needs of minorities as are residing in the state, a special project Chief Minister’s Inclusive Development Initiative’ is being formulated by the state government.
The Mehbooba Mufti government on Monday told the Supreme Court that it has no plans to set up a minority commission in Jammu and Kashmir
The project will have focused development efforts for certain segments of the society and will include upgrading civic infrastructure such as health, education, water, etc and a scholarship scheme for students not covered under the schemes of the ministry of minority affairs.
The Chief Justice Dipak Misraled bench too said it cannot direct the state legislature to legislate for the formation of a minority commission and asked the Centre to ‘deliberate’ on it.
‘How can we ask or direct the state legislature to legislate in a particular manner. The Centre says they will deliberate on it and get back to this court,’ CJI Misra told Sharma.
The petitioner said according to the 2011 census, about 68.3 per cent of the state’s population is Muslim. Among the minorities, 28.4 per cent are Hindus, followed by Sikhs (1.9 per cent), Buddhists (0.9 per cent), and Christians (0.3 per cent). In Kashmir valley, about 96.4 per cent are Muslims, followed by Hindus (2.45 per cent), Sikhs (0.98 per cent) and others (0.17 per cent).
Sharma argued that Hindus in Jammu and Kashmir are unable to benefit from central and state welfare schemes for minorities.
Change
CJI Misra’s predecessor JS Khehar had however adopted a different stand. He had in March asked the Centre and state government why a panel is not being constituted to protect the rights of minorities in the state.
‘It is a very very important subject…the manner in which the whole issue has emerged…this has to be kept in mind…if some protection has to be extended to a particular community who will do it other than you?’
Khehar had asked additional solicitor general Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the Modi government and had merely said that the demand is being ‘looked into’.
Mehta and senior advocate Gopal Subramanium were directed to ensure that representatives of the Centre and state government sit together and sort out the issue.
Questioning the petitioner’s motive and opposing the creation of a minority commission, the state government affidavit also says: ‘The states of Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Sikkim, Andaman, and several UTs have not set up minority commissions.
‘The present petition only seeks its establishment in J&K. In case the present petition has been filed in public interest, he should have prayed for its setting up in all these states.’