Minority status: Jamia split

Even as the Jamia Teachers Association is pushing granting of the minority educational institution status to the central university,a meeting held at the university on Tuesday denounced the move.

The public meeting was organised by the Jamia Teachers Solidarity Association (JTSA),with eminent academics T K Oommen and Imtiaz Ahmed as key speakers. JTSA is an independent group of teachers who came together in the aftermath of the Batla House encounter in 2008 to ensure justice.

Raising the demand for a minority institution could degrade the brand value of Jamias degrees, Oommen said. Even if Jamia as a minority institution can ensure a very high percentage of Muslim students,they would find it much more difficult to secure employment.

But the tenor of the meeting supported the implementation of OBC reservation in the university.

Imtiaz Ahmed said,Reservation for Muslims as a whole,whether through minority status for Jamia or through other kind of affirmative actions,would result in the elites cornering all the benefits at the detriment of the more marginal groups among them.

But Jamia Teachers Association secretary Tabrez Alam said,JTSA has no locus standi on the issue. Also,this topic was taken up in the general body meeting (GBM) of Jamia Teachers Association,and a resolution was passed supporting the call for minority status.

JTSA members said no such GBM had been convened after a resurgence of interest in the topic.

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