Jammu: Protests over admission of Muslim students to Vaishno Devi medical college, LG’s effigy burnt

A group led by the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Sangharsh Samiti staged a protest outside Lok Bhavan in Jammu on Saturday, demanding that the MBBS admission list of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence be revoked, The Indian Express reported.

The protesters objected to the selection of a large number of Muslim students from Kashmir, the newspaper reported.

The protesters clashed with police personnel, shouted slogans and burnt an effigy of Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha. The lieutenant governor serves as the chairman of the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, which runs the institution.

Some demonstrators attempted to climb the walls of Lok Bhavan, the official winter residence of the lieutenant governor, before being stopped by security personnel, the Hindustan Times reported.

Members of the Bharatiya Janata Party, its parent organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal and other Hindutva organisations also joined the protest.

The agitation was triggered by the release in November of the first admission list to the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence by the Jammu and Kashmir Board of Professional Entrance Examinations. Of the 50 candidates selected for the institute’s first MBBS batch, 44 were Muslims from Kashmir and six were Hindus from Jammu, The Indian Express reported. Of the six Hindu candidates selected, only three reportedly joined the course.

In November, unidentified officials had told The Indian Express that admissions to the medical course were done according to the National Medical Commission rules. Of the 50 seats, 85% are reserved for Jammu and Kashmir domiciles and 15% are open nationally.

On Saturday, the protesters demanded that the shrine board cancel the first admission list issued for the institute.

Retired Colonel Sukhvir Singh Mankotia, convener of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Sangharsh Samiti said that the protesters want that the MBBS seats in the college should be reserved for Hindu students.

“We are not against students of any particular religion,” The Indian Express quoted Mankotia as saying. “ [We] want the MBBS seats in [Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence] reserved for Hindu students as the medical college has been set up on the basis of donations made by pilgrims visiting the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine.”

The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University is not a minority institution. Therefore, religion cannot be a factor for admissions to the university.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, however, called the protests baseless, the newspaper reported.

He said that when the J&K Assembly passed the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University Act and allotted land for the campus, it was clearly stated that admissions would be based on merit alone.

“Where was it written that boys and girls from a particular religion will be kept out?” The Indian Express quoted Abdullah as saying. “It was said that admissions will be based on merit and not religion… If you want to admit without merit, then take permission from the Supreme Court.”

In November, a political row had erupted in Jammu and Kashmir after Sinha accepted a memorandum submitted by the BJP seeking cancellation of the admission list. While the ruling National Conference had described the memorandum as “divisive and communal”, the Opposition Peoples Democratic Party had said that the BJP’s move was “shameful”.

On November 22, the BJP, along with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, asked the lieutenant governor to amend admission rules and reserve all seats at the university for Hindu students. The BJP’s memorandum submitted to Sinha had not sought minority status for the university but objected to the admission of “the majority of students from a particular community”.