Supreme Court (File photo) Supreme Court (File photo) The Supreme Court on Friday declined to entertain a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking minority status for Hindus in seven states and one Union Territory. Declining the plea, the apex court asked the petitioner, Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and advocate Ashwani Kumar Upadhyay, to approach the National Commission for Minorities.

Upadhyay had filed a petition in the top court seeking minority status for Hindus in seven states and one Union Territory where the number of the community has fallen down, according to the Census 2011.

“According to 2011 Census, Hindus are minority in eight states i.e. Lakshadweep (2.5%), Mizoram (2.75%), Nagaland (8.75%), Meghalaya (11.53%), J&K (28.44%), Arunachal Pradesh (29%), Manipur (31.39%) and Punjab (38.40%). Their minority rights are being siphoned off illegally and arbitrarily to the majority population because neither Central nor the state governments have notified Hindus as a ‘minority’ under Section 2(c) of National Commission for Minority Act. Therefore, Hindus are being deprived of their basic rights, guaranteed under Articles 25 to 30,” the petition had said.

It should be noted that the Indian Constitution nowhere defines a community as a minority. However, it mentions the conservation of minorities on the basis of language and religion. Article 29 and 30 of the Constitution talks about the freedom of establishment of educational institutions by minorities and non-discrimination of minorities in admission to educational institutions.

(with PTI inputs)

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