Politburo issues fiat: AMU quota ‘improper’

The vhp, meanwhile, today said it would legally challenge the decision to provide reservation which it termed “illegal and unconstitutional”.

The Politburo said: ‘‘The Aligarh Muslim University is governed by an act of Parliament and has the status of a Central University like other Central Universities. It is not proper to have reservation on religious lines for students in such an university.’’

The CPI(M) said the party is aware that Article 30 of the Constitution does provide protection for minority educational institutions. The Politburo says under Article 30, as confirmed by the Supreme Court, there can be quotas for minority students. But, the party has specifically said: ‘‘The AMU does not fall in this category, as it is not a minority institution. When the AMU Act was amended in 1981, the status of the university was clarified.’’

According to the CPI(M), Section 8 of the Act in a way overrules Section 5, which the ministry has fallen back upon. Section 8, according to the CPI(M) still says: ‘‘Admission should be open to all, irrespective of faith, keeping in mind the tradition of the university’’. Section 5 only talks about empowering the university to promote the educational and cultural advancement of the Muslims. This the party believes can be done without resorting to reservation.

And subtly, the CPI(M) has advised the government to be less gimmicky about the problems faced by Muslims. The statement says: ‘‘The Politburo wishes to emphasise that the problems of providing modern education to the Muslim minorities must be taken up seriously and the Central government has a commitment to do so.’’

The party has also warned the Congress that this can amount to playing in the hands of the BJP. The statement adds: ‘‘The Politburo does not want this genuine issue to be given a communal turn by vested interests.’’

BJP vice-president, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today shot off a letter to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam saying that this was an ill-advised move. Naqvi is a member of the AMU court, an important decision-making body, and insisted that this was pure votebank politics.