“There is co-education everywhere else, so why not in madrasas? It is a regressive move... in these times how can we refuse education to girls?” he said.

He yet again denied that he had ever backed a judicial probe into the Batla House encounter in Jamia Nagar. “All I said was that in a democracy such issues are raised.”

The minister said the meet discussed the issue of educational needs of the Christians in tribal areas and that a committee has been constituted under the Secretary, Education, to examine the issue. The committee will also consider the feasibility of providing mid-day meal in such schools.

The minister had revived the Jamia Nagar encounter debate last month when at the annual conference of the National Commission for Minorities, in response to a question on whether a judicial probe should be allowed into the incident, he had replied, “why not”.