New Delhi, Aug 29 : The Centre on Monday sought additional time from the Supreme Court to conduct meetings with state governments as well as Union Territories in connection with the identification of minority religions, such as Hindus at the national level.The Ministry of Minority Affairs, in an update on the status of minorities that stated the opinions of the states’ governments, which include Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and UT of J&K have not been received as of the date of.”A warning was issued to these states, asking them to submit their views and comments.Additionally, remarks of states of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are also awaited.
These states are concerned that the matter could have broader implications.The Ministry is planning to organize meetings in the weeks to come with the remaining states’ governments or Union Territories in order to get their opinions on the issue as well,” said the ministry’s response to a plea made by attorney Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.
It was further stated that in the light of this situation the apex court might be tempted to postpone the hearing, and give more time for gatherings with the other states as well as UTs, as well as to allow the states/UTs as well as stakeholders with whom consultation meetings have already held, to formulate their views in the issue.
The apex court will consider the case on Tuesday.
In May, the highest court declared that the Centre is unsure and had not yet taken a firm position on a plea for an order to set out guidelines for the identification of minorities in the state, which includes Hindus.
It was stated that if the Centre would like to have a dialogue with the state government in connection with the issue of granting minority status to Hindus who are less than other groups, it should do that.
In a previous affidavit the ministry had stated that “state governments are also able to declare a linguistic or religious group as a minority within the state.As an example, the state of Maharashtra has informed Jews as a minor population in Maharashtra, the Maharashtra state of Maharashtra.”
The ministry also stated the states in which Hindus or any other community are smaller in numbers, can declare them a minority within its territory to allow them to establish and run their own institutions.
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