No, Congress Did Not Promise ‘Muslim Chief Justice of India’ In The Manifesto

As the Lok Sabha election's second phase concludes, several social media posts are gaining traction, targeting the Congress party over their manifesto.

Particularly, one featuring a screenshot of a newspaper article alleging that the Congress manifesto includes promises favouring the Muslim community.

These alleged promises range from the appointment of a Muslim person as the Chief Justice of India to various other benefits for Muslims.

It prompted several users to question whether it is truly the Congress manifesto or if it should be called as the "PFI Vision Document" or the "Muslim League Manifesto."

Fact Crescendo has received fact-check requests via our WhatsApp Tipline (9049053770) regarding these allegations.

Our findings revealed that these viral claims are false and misleading. The Congress party has not promised any such appointment.

WHAT’S THE CLAIM?

Original Post – Twitter | Facebook | Archive

The Indian National Congress manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is available in English and Hindi on their official website.

We used it to check the veracity of the claims mentioned in the viral posts. Here is a one-by-one verification of the claims:

Claim: Congress will appoint Muslims as judges in Courts and other institutions

Going through the official document, we did not find any so-called promise of appointing Muslims as judges in any court.

Instead, in the ‘Judiciary’ section of the manifesto, the party has promised to appoint more women and people from marginalized communities as judges in both High Courts and the Supreme Court.

The fifth point of this section states, "More women and persons belonging to the SC, ST, OBC, and minorities will be appointed as judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court."

Nowhere in the Congress manifesto are Muslims specifically mentioned. So, the appointment of judges will not be limited to Muslims but will include a broad range of communities.

Read here – English | Hindi

Claim: Congress will restore Muslim Personal Law or Burqa/hijab in School

In the 'Religious and Linguistic Minorities' section of the manifesto, the Congress party promises that minority groups, like any other citizens of the nation, will be able to freely follow their faith and practice their religion in accordance with the rights guaranteed in the Constitution.

The seventh point of the section says, “Congress will ensure that, like every citizen, minorities have the freedom of choice of dress, food, language, and personal laws.”

Further, the party encourages “reform of personal laws”. But, it insists that any changes should happen with the involvement and agreement of the communities these laws affect.

Nowhere in the manifesto, has Congress referred to any particular religious minority or community or Muslim Personal Law or Burqa/hijab.

According to Section 2 (c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jain and Zoroastrians (Parsis) are considered minority communities in India.

Read – English | Hindi

Claim: Congress will give special reservations to Muslims

In the ‘Social Justice’ section of the manifesto, the party guarantees that it will pass a constitutional amendment to raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SC, ST, and OBC. It will also enact a law with reference to Article 15(5) of the Constitution to provide for reservation in private educational institutions for SC, ST and OBC.

Also, a reservation of 10 percent in jobs and educational institutions for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) will be implemented for all castes and communities without discrimination.

In other words, no special reservation for Muslims is promised in the manifesto.

The party further says it will “establish a Diversity Commission that will measure, monitor and promote diversity in public and private employment and education”. Here, too, it has not been promised any employment guarantee or reservation for Muslims in government or private jobs.

Claim: Congress will support Hamas

Congress manifesto says that the BJP/NDA government has witnessed marked departures in foreign policy, especially regarding issues like the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

The party promises to bring back India's good reputation internationally by being a strong advocate for peace and balance in global affairs.

It does not say that it will support Hamas.

Claim: Congress will remove the ban on beef

We did not find any mention of such a promise regarding to the issue of beef.

CONCLUSION

Hence, it becomes clear that the viral claims suggesting the Congress manifesto has promises benefiting Muslims, such as the appointment of Muslims as CJI, are false. There is no reference to any particular religion or group in the manifesto.

(If you come across any news, videos, or images that seem too good (or bad) to be true, don’t hesitate to send them our way. Our team of fact-checkers will look into it and then share our findings with you. Together, we can fight the spread of fake news and misinformation. Our WhatsApp number is 9049053770. To stay updated, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.)