Capt Amarinder for determining minority status at national level

Chandigarh: Punjab's former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has underlined the need for determining the minority status of the communities at the national level and not at the state level. In a letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Capt Amarinder said that he had learnt that the Supreme Court of India was taking the matter of Sikh minority institutions in Punjab on a priority basis.

The former Chief Minister said, the main contention of the petitioner is that Sikhs are nota minority in Punjab, and therefore these institutions cannot be accorded minority status. “It implies that the minority status of a community should be decided state- wise and not at the national level”, he said, while adding, at present, the minority status of various communities is decided at the national level, and it is rightly so.

“In case, it is done at the state level, there will be serious socio-political and even techno-legal implications. It may raise discord and avoidable unrest in society. The states may not have accurate data, and they may have different interpretations of the available data. The possibility of the states applying varying timelines to data usage to suit local socio-political imperatives can also not be ruled out. If that happens, apart from center- state discord, inter-state and intra-state tensions may rise, polarizing the society to the detriment of national integrity”, he warned.

Making an earnest appeal to the PM, he said, “it is strongly felt that the existing system of determining minorities status of various communities in the country at the national level should continue. You may well appreciate that the system has not only maintained consistency and uniformity with periodic interventions of the Union Government but has served well in maintaining peace and amity among various communities. Punjab is a singular example in this regard. The change, if any, will give the miscreants a chance  to raise a red flag”.

“I am confident that you would have the matter examined appropriately and advise the concerned Ministries of the Government of India to defend the present system and the minority status of Sikh institutions in Punjab and other states”, Capt Amarinder said in the letter.