AMU News: After a seven-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court on Friday overturned its 1967 decision which barred Aligarh Muslim University from having the minority status, the campus erupted in celebration, with students and staffers burning firecrackers and distributing sweets to mark the historic decision.
Many gathered at Bab-e-Syed raised slogans for the University and hailed the decision of the apex court.
“We welcome the SC decision… We celebrated and we are very happy with it,” An AMU student said while speaking with news agency ANI. “This fight has been going on for many years and has concluded today. It is a fight for the ideology of AMU… You can see the growing number of people who have gathered here to express their contentment after the SC order,” added another.
Police, Administration On High Alert
The city administration was already on high alert given the sensitive nature of the issue, Dainik Jagran reported. As a precaution, the AMU administration had declared Saturday a holiday in the schools affiliated with the university. The additional police force was deployed at the main gate.
‘Important Day For Muslims In India’
AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi also reacted to the landmark Supreme Court ruling, terming it a big day for Muslims in India.
“It is an important day for Muslims of India. The 1967 judgement had rejected the minority status of AMU when in fact it was. Article 30 states that minorities have the right to establish and administer their educational institutions in a manner that they deem fit,” the AIMIM leader stated in an X post.
“The right of minorities to educate themselves has been upheld. I congratulate all students and faculty of AMU today. It does not matter if the University was established before the Constitution, or if it was set up by a law of the govt. It is a minority institution if it was established by minorities. All the arguments of the BJP were rejected,” Owaisi added.