Speakers at the university’s annual alumni function in Riyadh this Friday called on the Indian government not to play with the sentiments of Muslims by trying to change the character of an institution so close to the hearts of its biggest religious minority.

They expressed concern over the government’s pressure on the Delhi-based historic university to give up its constitutional right and provide 27 percent of its places to OBCs (other backward classes), the same as any other university in the country.

The speakers were of the view that this would be a violation of Article 30 (1) of the Indian constitution. An 11-judge bench at the Supreme Court of India has also established the university’s minority status, which allows it to reserve half its seats for the Muslim community, they said.

JMI was founded in 1920 during the Khilafat and Non-Cooperation movements in response to Mahatama Gandhi's call for a boycott of all educational institutions supported or run by the British colonial rule.

Leading Islamic scholars and political heavyweights of the freedom movement were directly associated with the university.

In December 1988 the JMI was made a central university by a Special Act of the Parliament.

The Jamia Millia Islamia Society, the private body, which has been governing the institution ever since its inception, was dissolved. However, the Act also recognized the predominant Muslim character of the JMI.

Last year, the new vice chancellor Najeeb Jung said he would not allow the JMI to become a madrasah (Islamic seminary), while India’s Education Ministry was also pushing for OBCs to receive places since the university was getting official grants.

However, speakers at the alumni function say that a minority institution does not lose its status the moment it starts receiving grants.

Their call for help becomes especially significant in light of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's planned visit to Riyadh this week.

JMI presented an honorary doctorate degree to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah when he made a landmark visit to India in 2006.

Later in the same year the king granted SR112 million ($30 million) to the university for the construction of a joint library and research center, to be named after him.