Minority Educational Institution
Q. Which of the following institute/s are under the debate regarding the minority educational institute status?
1) AMU
2) St Stephen’s
3) Jamia Islamia- Published on 07 Apr 16a. 1, 3
b. 2, 3
c. 1, 3
d. All of the above
ANSWER: 1, 3
- AMU was founded as the Madrasatul Uloom in 1875 in Aligarh, and evolved into the Mohammedan Anglo Oriental College.
- It had very progressive roots — its founder, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, spoke for women’s education and personally passed the hat for funds.
- AMU has no reservation for Muslims, but has preferences and reservations for local candidates, irrespective of faith.
- AMU, which was declared a minority institution by the AMU Amendment Act in 1981 by the Parliament.
- The seeds of JMI were sown in Aligarh by a group of nationalist students and members who formed a camp there as Jamia Millia Islamia, which later moved to Delhi. Leaders like M A Ansari, Zakir Husain and Mahatma Gandhi encouraged the university to push nationalist values and ideas.
- There was friction between JMI and AMU along political lines, as a significant section at AMU was said to be “League-y”, or tilting towards the Muslim League, while the ‘nationalist’ JMI was wholeheartedly supported by the Congress.
- JMI gives reservation/preference to Muslims after the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI) granted it minority status in 2011.
- The government has said that Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia are not minority educational institutions. In the case of AMU, the Attorney General has argued that this is because it was set up by an act of Parliament, not by Muslims. But critics say this is a narrow reading of the history and background of AMU and JMI.
