As the central government has accused of declaring states religious and linguistic minorities in an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, which states that “both Parliament and state legislatures have to make laws to protect minorities and their interests”. . , have the right to do. “There are concurrent powers”. At least two former chairmen of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) agree with the Centre’s stand.
Former NCM president Wajahat Habibullah has said that during his tenure as President, the NCM raised the issue of the state’s powers to grant minority status to communities in Jammu and Kashmir and even to Kashmiri Pandits. Emphasis was placed on granting minority status.
“NCM Act is applicable across the country. We realized that each state should have its own Act. When I was heading the panel, I myself recommended that a commission be set up for minorities especially for Jammu and Kashmir and a Kashmiri Pandit should lead it in light of the suffering of the community. We recommended that this commission take into account the complexity of the region – a Muslim-majority Kashmir, a Buddhist-majority Ladakh and a Hindu-majority Jammu. We had also recommended that Pandits be declared a minority community and protected accordingly,” Habibullah said.
Iqbal Singh Lalpura, who recently resigned from the post of NCM president to contest the Punjab elections, said, “The stand of the central government is right. The NCM deals with three main themes – education, no discrimination in the workplace, and equality for minorities; And that means whatever community is minority in any state. I have personally written to the states to set up their own commissions – but they did not respond and acted on the matter,” says Lalpura.
Former Vice President of India, Hamid Ansari, who also chaired the NCM, says, “The point is that the whole process is governed by an Act of Parliament – the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 – which defines a certain area. Jurisdiction. If the Central Government wants the scope of the exercise to be increased, then only the Act needs to be reconsidered…”
Keki Daruwala, former chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee and NCM member, said, “The entire debate on the matter started with the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley. Things are already complicated. Why make them more complicated?”