Speaking at seminar here the union minority affairs minister Salman Khurshid said: “It is a fact that India is the only country in the world where there is no reservation for the minorities”. He also said that secularism was meaningless if there was no minority in India.
The minister statement is likely to shake the policy makers of his party. The Congress party always propagates that the constitution does not allow reservation on the basis of religion, despite the fact that the constitution could be amended.
Delivering Dr. Ambedkar Memorial Lecture 2010-2011 on the theme “Constitution as an Instrument of Change” at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) on Saturday, the minister also said that the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and Jamia Millia Islamia were born with the ‘minority character’, and the “government must recognize, respect and acknowledge it”.
Making a special reference to Ayodhya verdict, he observed that religious sentiments can be a context and not the basis of any Supreme Court Judgment.
In his presidential remarks, AMU Vice Chancellor, Prof. P. K. Abdul Azis said that entire nation was a witness to the great history of law education at the Aligarh Muslim University. He said that AMU has opened two more law schools in West Bengal and Kerala and very soon it would become the largest contributor to the legal education in India.
Dean, Faculty of Law and Incharge, Dr. Ambedkar Chair of Legal Studies and Research, Prof. Mohammad Shabbir presented a detailed report of the numerous academic and research initiatives that it has started to promote the great legacy of Dr. Ambedkar.
The lecture was organized by Dr. Ambedkar Chair of Legal Studies and Research, Department of Law, Aligarh Muslim University on the initiative of Dr. Ambedkar Foundation, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India