Minority status be accorded only at national level: Cheema

Punjab Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema today said minority status must be accorded only at national level as doing the same at the state level may have "dangerous" consequences.
Speaking at the first regional conference of north-Indian states organised by National Commission for Minority Education Institutions (NCMEI) here, the minister said that constitutionally the minority status shall be provided at national level.
Giving the status at state level can be "dangerous", he said.
Likewise, Sikh population in Punjab and Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir will be in majority, he said.
Cheema said as the matter has reached the Supreme Court, the Commission should strongly defend this as an obligation to protect minority rights.

The Supreme Court had last month asked whether Sikhs in Punjab and Muslims in Kashmir can be treated as minority, as it commenced hearing to decide the correctness of a 2007 Punjab and Haryana High Court verdict holding that Sikhs cannot be granted 50 per cent quota in Sikh educational institutions in Punjab.

The Education Minister reiterated that if status is granted at state level, if may confine it later to district or block levels.
This way, Muslims will be in majority in Malerkotla and Christians in Majha area of Punjab, he added.
The Minister said that the Commission has formed an Urdu Promotion Council and a Punjabi Promotion Council will be made for Punjabis, residing in out of Punjab and in other countries.

The conference was inaugurated by Prof Kaptan Singh Solanki, Governor of Punjab and Haryana.