Minorities Commission to meet on giving minority status to Hindus

The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) will meet on June 14 and decide on giving minority status to Hindus in seven states and one union territory.

Last year, the NCM had formed a three-member committee to study the matter of minority status to Hindus in the seven states and one union territory where their population is less than 50 per cent.

The committee was formed under the chairmanship of George Kourien. He is also the vice chairman of NCM. Other two NCM members are Sulekha Kambre and Manjeet Singh Rai.

In November 2017, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in the Supreme Court stating that Hindus in these seven states and one union territory have been denied their basic rights.

However, the apex court refused to entertain the plea and had asked the petitioner to approach the National Commission for Minorities.

The petition was filed by Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, a lawyer and a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who sought minority status for Hindus in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Lakshadweep (union territory), Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.

The plea had stated that minority rights are being drawn off "illegally and arbitrarily" to the majority population as neither the Centre nor the state has notified Hindus as a 'minority' under the National Commission of Minorities Act, 1992.