Alarm bells are ringing after receiving yet another letter from the Education Ministry asking AMU for feedback on the proposed revision to the AMU Act of 1920. To create a response, AMU has formed a committee.
Multiple emails from the education ministry to Aligarh Muslim University regarding a potential review of the statute that governs it have stoked concerns that the government may be attempting to strip the institution of special privileges due to its affiliation with a minority group, according to The Telegraph.
In a letter sent to AMU, Banaras Hindu University, and Delhi University in November of last year, the ministry requested their input on a proposal for a "review of pre-Independence University Acts." According to information, DU has approved a review of the DU Act of 1922, and BHU has formed a committee to design a response to the proposed review of the BHU Act of 1915.
The AMU Act of 1920 should not be reviewed, the university responded in November 2022. Alarm bells started ringing when the ministry sent out a second letter to the institution this month asking for another perspective on the proposed review. AMU has organised a committee to draft a retort.
While the government has opposed the continuation of the university's minority status in a lawsuit being considered in the Supreme Court, some AMU faculty and alumni have expressed concern that the proposed review is intended to revoke AMU's unique privileges through the legislative route.
Thaawar Chand Gehlot, who was the social justice minister at the time, asked in 2016 that AMU and the Jamia Millia Islamia lose their status as minority institutions so that they must adhere to the government's admissions reservation policy.
AMU emphasised that the AMU Act had been periodically revised in accordance with the demands of the times in its response to the government in November. The statute did not contain any redundant sections that needed to be changed at this time, it had noted, and a court case regarding the institution's minority nature was ongoing.