Minorities Commission to study minority status to Hindus in eight states

The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) on Wednesday formed a three-member committee to study the matter of minority status to Hindus in eight states where their population is less than 50 per cent.

The committee has to give a report within three months.

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.

Ajay Kumar, Additional Secretary of NCM, will be the secretary of this committee.

This committee can also take suggestions from the constitutional experts.

Last month, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in the Supreme Court stating that Hindus in these eight states have been denied their basic rights.

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, Lakshdweep, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.