Medical college row: Omar says Jammu’s loss, blames protesters for ‘destroying’ students’ future; BJP & Hindu groups celebrate

SRINAGAR: BJP and Hindu groups on Wednesday celebrated the National Medical Commission’s decision to withdraw permission to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence (SMVDIME) in Reasi, Jammu, to run an MBBS course from 2025-26 academic session, while J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah reacted sharply, accusing them of playing with the future of students.

As activists of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Sangharsh Samiti — a conglomerate of Hindu social and religious organisations that led an agitation against the admission of non-Hindu students to the shrine board-run medical college — held victory marches in Jammu, burst crackers and danced, Omar on Wednesday evening said it was unfortunate that people were celebrating the “closure of a medical college”. “In other parts of the country people fight to get such institutions,” he said. “If you are happy to destroy the future of our children, then go ahead and burst crackers.”

The Sangharsh Samiti had been protesting since Nov against the admission of 42 Muslim students, mostly from Kashmir, in the first batch of 50, with only seven Hindus and one Sikh among the selected candidates. Its contention was that an institution funded by Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board should give preference to Hindu students and those who have faith in Mata Vaishno Devi.

CM Omar said within two years, the institute’s intake capacity would have risen to 400, of which about 250 would have come from Jammu. “Now, no one will get those seats because the college has been closed in the name of religion,” he said. Students who fail to secure admission in medical colleges in future should remember the role played by the Sangharsh Samiti in closing this institute, he added.

On Tuesday, barely an hour before the NMC order, the CM had said the medical college was not worth running given the religious politics played around it, and had suggested shutting it down. “In the given scenario, I don’t feel the students themselves would like to study there. We request GoI and the health ministry to adjust these children in other colleges. Had I been a parent of these students, I wouldn’t send them there,” Omar had said.

Although NMC stated that the Letter of Permission was being withdrawn as an inspection found non-compliance with minimum standards, the Sangharsh Samiti claimed it was a result of its prolonged agitation. “This is our first major victory,” its representatives said at a news briefing, adding, “Our current protest has ended but there are more issues, like the Shrine Board Act which needs amendment.”

BJP’s J&K president and Rajya Sabha member Sat Sharma, too, welcomed the NMC decision, and thanked LG Manoj Sinha and Union health minister J P Nadda, for withdrawal of permission while safeguarding the interests of selected students.

Kashmir-based parties, however, slammed the decision, terming it Jammu’s loss, and blamed BJP. NC minister Javed Rana said admissions in educational institutions shouldn’t be sought on the basis of religion. He accused BJP of “communalising” the issue of admissions in SMVDIME.

PDP called it “a ruthless setback” for Jammu region, and blamed BJP. “People of Jammu must wake up to the reality that religious polarisation only sabotages their future. This entire episode was cynically engineered by BJP for narrow political gains in the name of religion, and it is Jammu that has been made to pay the price,” PDP youth wing president Aditya Gupta said.

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