Jamia Millia declared minority institution

• In a historic order, the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI) on granted minority institution status to Jamia Milia Islamia University. This will allow Jamia Millia — started in 1920 and declared a Central University by an Act of Parliament in 1988 — to reserve up to 50 per cent seats for Muslims.
• Grant of minority status would mean that Jamia Millia Islamia will no longer have to give reservation to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes students. The petition had been moved before the quasi-judicial body by Jamia Students' Union, Jamia Old Boys' Association, and Jamia Teachers' Association in 2006.
• The Union Human Resource Development Ministry had opposed the move on the ground that a petition challenging the minority status of the Aligarh Muslim University was pending in the Supreme Court and its judgment would have a bearing on the Jamia case.
• The order can only be challenged in the High Court through a writ petition or in the Supreme Court.

Section 2(o) of the Jamia Millia Islamia Act, 1988, acknowledges it in no uncertain terms that Jamia was founded by the leaders of the Khilafat movement.
It is well known that the Khilafat movement was spearheaded by Maulana Shaukat Ali and Maulana Mohd. Ali Jauhar, and that the Khilafat movement gave birth to the non-cooperation movement launched by Gandhiji.

On the minority status case of Aligarh Muslim University pending in the Supreme Court, it said: "It has to be borne in mind that according to Azeez Basha's case the Muhammedan Anglo-Indian College had lost its identity by its conversion into the AMU, which was established by the AMU Act,1920. In the instant case, the Jamia never lost its identity till enactment of the Act."