The Supreme Court has taken a stand for minorities in India, taking note of a plea which argued that Hindus in Jammu and Kashmir are unable to benefit from central and state welfare schemes for minorities.

A bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur issued notices to the Centre, National Commission for Minorities, and the state government after the public interest litigation pointed out that no panel has been set up to identify religious and linguistic minorities in the country’s only Muslim-majority state, despite repeated representations.

“Jammu and Kashmir has still not legislated the State Minority Commission Act which empowers its Assembly to notify minorities by applying prescribed criteria. Consequently, the benefits exclusively meant for the minority communities are being given away to a certain community, which is the majority community, in an illegal and arbitrary manner,” said the PIL filed by Jammu-based lawyer Ankur Sharma.

Kashmiri Hindus perform rituals during the annual fair at Kheer Bhawani temple in Jammu

Last month, J&K’s Minister for Social Welfare Sajad Gani Lone told the legislative council that there was no need to establish a minority commission in the state, while rejecting demands from BJP legislators.

“Such demands will add fire. Jammu has a Hindu majority and Kashmir has a Muslim majority. We cannot declare minorities at block levels and have to follow national criteria,” Lone said.

According to the 2011 census, about 68.3 per cent of the state's population are Muslims. 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 said he filed the PIL to “safeguard the interests of religious and linguistic minorities and for the enforcement of their fundamental rights".

“Non-identification and non-notification of the minorities is leading to disbursement of minority benefits illegally and arbitrarily, according to the whims and fancies of successive state governments,” he alleged.

The Union government indirectly recognises Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Christians of Jammu and Kashmir as “minorities”.

This is in spite of the fact that the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992, is not applicable to J&K - and thus the recognition of Muslims as “minorities” is whimsical and illegal, the plea said.

The Union Ministry of Minority Affairs has awarded 717 out of the 753 available scholarships to the majority community in Jammu and Kashmir.

Constitutional guarantees under Article 29 and 30 (rights of minorities) are no guarantees at all in Jammu and Kashmir due to the government's failure to identify religious and linguistic minorities and declare them as notified minorities, said the PIL.

Rights and benefits due to the minorities are being siphoned off arbitrarily and illegally, it added.

The litigant wants the Supreme Court to demand the setting-up of a state minority commission to identify religious and linguistic minorities, or to appoint a panel of experts under its supervision to submit a report on the religious and linguistic minority communities of Jammu and Kashmir.