If I say how Smriti Irani treated AMU V-C, it will trigger a big row: Ghulam Nabi Azad

He said the UGC, during the UPA’s tenure, had provided about Rs 45 crore to the centre. The NDA government, he said, has stopped the funding

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Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said the government is both “anti-minority” and “anti-minority institutions” and owes an explanation in Parliament. (File/PTI)

Having crossed swords with HRD Minister Smriti Irani over Rohith Vemula’s suicide and the incidents at JNU, the Congress has now decided to attack the minister’s reported move to stop financial support to Aligarh Muslim University’s off-campus centres. Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said the government is both “anti-minority” and “anti-minority institutions” and owes an explanation in Parliament.

Azad said Irani had told Kerala CM Oommen Chandy and Lok Sabha MP E T Mohammed Basheer at a meeting on January 8 that the AMU centre in Malappuram was “illegally set up and has no legal sanctity whatsoever and she cannot fund it”. He said the UGC, during the UPA’s tenure, had provided about Rs 45 crore to the centre. The NDA government, he said, has stopped the funding. Azad said he has spoken to Chandy and Basheer.

“This shows the mindset of BJP and the HRD minister.” Irani, he said, had a second meeting with Chandy at Thiruvananthapuram, where she repeated that the ministry cannot fund the centre.

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“…a few hours before that meeting, some BJP office bearers visited the centre at Malappuram. It seems they reported something to the minister…this is highly politically motivated,” Azad said.

There have been reports that Irani had asked AMU V-C Lt. Gen. Zameer Uddin Shah to leave the meeting on January 8, saying that he had not been invited. Azad said, “I have not spoken to the V-C. But the CM and Basheer told me that it was at their request that the V-C had come. The CM had invited him so that he can brief the minister, if need be.”

“But according to my reports, the V-C was not allowed to sit in the meeting and the way he was treated, if I narrate it…it will create a big controversy. And the V-C being a gentleman and a retired Army officer…how many Muslims have reached the level of Lt General of the proud Indian Army…so being a disciplined soldier, he has not raked up the issue. Had it been any other V-C, irrespective of the religion…not having the Army background, I think AMU would have been on fire.”

“If this is the attitude of the NDA government, I am sure they will make efforts to see to it that the minority character of the university is finished,” he added.

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Asked whether the Congress would raise the issue in Parliament, he said “mere raising of the issue during Zero Hour is not enough. We will have to raise the issue in a big way which means a serious discussion. The government owes an explanation on how can they arbitrarily stop funding centres which have been duly approved by the university, HRD Ministry and the President, who is a Visitor”. He said section 12(2) of the AMU act permits setting up of such centres. “This once again proves that the BJP is anti-minority and anti-minority institutions,” he said.

Basheer said Irani was “very indifferent” and “rude” at the meeting. “She kept saying it (the centre) started functioning illegally and that the ministry cannot spare money for it,” he told The Sunday Express. Asked why he and the CM kept quiet, he said they did not want to vitiate the atmosphere for the second meeting.

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