A political row has erupted in Jammu and Kashmir after Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha accepted a memorandum submitted by the Bharatiya Janata Party seeking to scrap the admission list at the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence, as 42 of the 50 selected students are Muslims.
A day after BJP called on LG Sinha, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday took strong exception to the BJP’s stance on the first admissions in the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence, and said any move to grant MBBS seats without merit would require the Supreme Court’s approval.
The Constitution has a word, ‘secular’, and if they (BJP) do not want to keep the country secular, they should first remove the word, Abdullah said.While the ruling National Conference has described the memorandum as “divisive and communal”, the Opposition Peoples Democratic Party stated that the BJP’s move was “shameful”.
On Saturday, the BJP, along with Hindutva organisations the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, asked Sinha to amend admission rules and reserve all seats at the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University for Hindu students. The Lieutenant Governor serves as the chairman of the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, which runs the institution.
Abdullah warned that once religion becomes a factor in institutional decisions, it could influence other areas of governance. “If decisions are made based on religion, should social welfare schemes follow the same principle? Should police officers perform their duties based on religion?” he asked.
He said the Leader of the Opposition, Sunil Sharma, should review the assembly record and the bill to confirm that no provision allows seat distribution based on religion. BJP’s Sunil Sharma, who is the leader of Opposition in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, told Sinha on Saturday that the university “is a religious institution and people have faith and beliefs attached to it”.The BJP’s memorandum submitted to Sinha has not sought minority status for the university but objected to the admission of “the majority of students from a particular community.
After the lieutenant governor accepted the Hindutva party’s memorandum, the National Conference accused the BJP of “communalising institutions”.“If hospitals, schools, universities, and medical colleges start deciding intake on the basis of religion, what kind of country will we become,” said party legislator Tanvir Sadiq. “Will merit be pushed aside to satisfy majoritarian demands?”
He added that an institution funded by a shrine does not become “religion-based”. “Donations made out of devotion cannot be converted into tools of discrimination.” Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti alleged that discrimination towards Muslims in Kashmir was being extended to education. Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference chief Sajad Lone alleged that the BJP was “experimenting with the concept of communalising medical sciences”.“Medical science needs researchers not religious zealots,” Lone said on social media.
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