Justice D Y Chandrachud was in the spotlight in the Urdu press as he concluded Sunday his tenure as the 50th Chief Justice of India, during which he was part of several landmark judgments ranging from the Ayodhya tangle and abrogation of Article 370 to decriminalisation of homosexuality and recognition of privacy as a fundamental right. In his last week as CJI, Justice Chandrachud gave rulings on Aligarh Muslim University’s minority status and the Uttar Pradesh madrasa law’s constitutional validity, which dominated the front pages of the Urdu dailies.

In the final countdown to the Maharashtra and Jharkhand polls, the dailies also focused on the battle of sops between the NDA and the INDIA bloc as they scrambled to unveil their manifestos and guarantees to woo the voters.

Highlighting the Supreme Court Constitution Bench’s judgment by a 4-3 majority overruling the 1967 apex court decision in S Azeez Basha v Union of India, which had held that AMU was not a minority institution, the Mumbai-based Urdu Times, in its November 9 editorial, writes, “This historic verdict has removed the stain from AMU that it is not a minority institution… The top court however has laid down a test for determining whether an educational institution can claim minority status under Article 30(1) of the Constitution, referring the factual determination of the AMU case to a regular Bench. So the verdict could be called a half victory as the struggle remains for the Muslim community to prove its case,” the edit says.

Referring to the test laid down by the seven-judge Bench led by CJI Chandrachud for determining minority status, the daily states that AMU could “easily clear it” on its various parameters ranging from the origin and objective of the institution to the execution of its project, to its administration. “The court said who set up AMU, what was its purpose, who made contributions for it? It should not be difficult to establish these facts relating to AMU’s minority character. The entire affair however underlines the challenge the Muslim community faces in pushing for its educational advancement through its own institutions,” it says.

Noting that Muslims face criticism from various quarters for their educational backwardness, the daily says, “But when the community makes efforts to improve its educational standing, its institutions run into various hurdles, facing adversaries who eye its facilities, especially its professional courses like medical, engineering or law. Then they come up with an absurd argument that because AMU took legal shape through a law, hence it could not qualify as a minority institution.”

The editorial says that AMU, whose name itself points to its linkage with the Muslim community, has been a “living testimony of many years of relentless efforts made by the great educationist and reformer Sir Syed Ahmad Khan”, who established the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College in Aligarh, with the aim of providing modern education to Muslims in India, which later became AMU in 1920 by an Act of then central legislature during the British rule. “AMU is not merely an educational institution but holds immense symbolic value for Muslims in the country. The sacrifices and donations made by the community for its establishment are part of its folklore. History has witnessed it, and those trying to negate it should revisit it,” the edit adds.

Referring to the Maharashtra and Jharkhand Assembly polls, the Hyderabad-based Siasat, in its leader on November 11, points out that both the BJP-led NDA and the INDIA bloc have intensified their campaigning in the last leg. “Whether it is the Lok Sabha polls or any state elections, the BJP’s poll strategy always remains centred on the politics of fear and polarisation. The party always fights shy of seeking mandate on the basis of its work or programmes, choosing instead to play on people’s fears to drive a wedge between them in a bid to garner electoral dividends,” it says.

During this year’s Lok Sabha polls, the BJP leadership suggested that the Congress was plotting to snatch what was due to Dalits, tribals and OBCs to give it to Muslims. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi even said that if voted to power the Congress would distribute these sections’ land, wealth and property to the minority community,” the editorial says, adding that the bogey of quota was repeatedly raised to whip up fear among the backward communities.

The daily writes that the BJP is using the same playbook in the ongoing Assembly polls, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah alleging that the Congress has plans to give quota benefits to Muslims by curtailing SC, ST and OBC reservations. “This betrays the BJP’s negative politics and cynical mindset. It does not seek votes on development but division. This is especially unfortunate as it is being done by the BJP top brass. This might give the BJP an edge in the polls, but the rifts it create between various communities will not be bridged,” it says.

Commenting on the Supreme Court’s judgment upholding the constitutional validity of the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act 2004, the Bengaluru-based Salar says the CJI Chandrachud-led Bench’s ruling underscores the need for looking at issues pertaining to education and secularism carefully. It points out that the apex court set aside the Allahabad High Court’s verdict, which had held the Act as “unconstitutional” for “violating” the principles of secularism, which is a part of the basic structure of the Constitution, besides contravening the University Grants Commission Act, 1956. “The top court’s nuanced ruling stipulates that the UP law’s provision allowing the Madrasa Board to award higher degrees like Fazil and Kamil is unlawful since it is in conflict with the UGC Act, a central law,” the editorial notes. “As regards the high court’s quashing of the Act for flouting secularism, the apex court said that for a statute to be thus struck down it must be shown which provisions of the Constitution relating to secularism have been violated by it.”

The daily states that the top court’s “landmark judgment” acknowledges the state government’s right to regulate minority educational institutions for their reforms without depriving the community the constitutional right to administer it. “The apex court’s decision reflects the concerns for improving the educational standards in these madarsas, which could be a ray of hope for their students. If a state government’s intent is transparent, it can undertake reforms in these institutions under the law and Constitution,” the edit says, adding that the verdict would have a bearing on the minority institutions across the country.