'What's Our Crime?': Communal Row Over Vaishno College Admissions Leaves Kashmiri Students' Future in Dark

For more than a week now, Mushtaq Ahmad* and his family have been anxious. Their worry deepens each day as the row over the admission of more than 42 Muslim students, including their son, continues to escalate in Jammu and Kashmir, leaving their future hanging in uncertainty.Over two months ago, their son, Mudasir*, who cleared the National Medical Council screening and the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), secured admission to the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence (SMVDIME) in Katra, in Jammu’s Reasi district.The first seat-allocation list for 2025–26 issued by SMVDIME and cleared by the Jammu and Kashmir Board of Professional Entrance Examinations (JKBOPEE), showed that 42 of the 50 admitted students were Muslims, seven were Hindus, and one was Sikh.“We were so happy, but we had no idea that our joy would be short lived,” said Ahmad, a resident of Srinagar.'Concerned About Future of The Kashmir Times': Anuradha Bhasin After SIA RaidsSoon after the list was released, right-wing groups in Jammu opposed the admission of the non-Hindu students, stating that since the college has been established by the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board and built through donations made by Hindus, seats should be reserved exclusively for Hindus. The medical college is affiliated with SMVD University.Built on 34 acres, the institute has begun its first academic batch this year. Admissions are based on the NEET merit list, with 85 percent of seats reserved for J&K domiciles. The region has 13 medical colleges.The controversy has once again sharpened divisions between Jammu and Kashmir, with groups such as the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal demanding the list be scrapped. Demonstrators protested outside the Katra campus and burnt an effigy of the CEO of the Shrine Board.Nearly 60 organisations in Jammu have now come together under the Sanatan Dharma Sabha banner, demanding the list be scrapped. A “Sangarsh Samiti” has been formed to address the issue. Retired Colonel Sukhbir Singh Mankotia, convener of the Samiti, told The Quint they were not opposing any community, but believed the “sacred ethos and faith of the Hindu community should be respected”."Our protest is against the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, which didn’t follow the set procedure and violated the constitution of the board." Sukhbir Singh MankotiaHe added that they did not want the area to become a site of “unnecessary confrontation."“We don’t want to spoil the future of selected students. We want an amicable solution for this and the government should adjust these students to other medical colleges,” he said. Following the protest, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has a strong presence in the Jammu province, also strongly opposed the admission of Muslim students and submitted a memorandum to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, urging him to roll back their admissions.Notably, SMVDIME is not classified as a minority institution; admissions were conducted according to National Medical Council and NEET norms.Political parties based in Kashmir, including the ruling National Conference (NC), have backed the students and strongly criticised the BJP for playing “communal politics."Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said admissions must be based on merit, not religion, warning that excluding Muslim students on religious grounds would push them towards radicalisation.Speaking to reporters, Abdullah said that denying meritorious Muslim students admission to educational institutions on religious grounds would push them towards radicalism. "Don't treat Muslim children like this, because you blame the entire community for what happens next. Don't do it. If you want Muslim children not to study in this medical college, please change its status, grant it minority status, and our children will get admission elsewhere: to Bangladesh, Turkey, or anywhere else."Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Tanvir Sadiq, Chief Spokesperson of National Conference, said that medical colleges usually receive grant-in-aid from the government and don't run only on the donation from the particular community. According to a report on The Wire, the University has received ₹121 crore in government aid since 2017.BJP spokesperson Sunil Sethi responded that the government funds the University, not the medical college.“This medical college is 100 percent funded by the shrine board,” he said adding “if they are saying we provide grant-in-aid to medical collage, then we will request lieutenant governor to stop taking grant-in-aid for them,” Sunil said they are looking for ways to sort out the issue mutually. “It is a matter of faith. Medical college is funded by the shrine board and the funding is getting from the Hindu community,” The BJP spokesperson further accused Omar Abdullah of creating "a wedge" between communities. “The CM is crossing all the limits by saying Kashmiris will take admission in Turkey and Bangladesh…aren’t these countries our enemies? Do we deserve a CM who talks against the nation?” he questioned. 'How Do Freelancers Like Me in Kashmir Prove We’re 'Real' Journalists to Govt?'While the admissions controversy has become a political flashpoint in Jammu and Kashmir, the future of these 42 students remains uncertain.“What is our crime? We worked hard for years to crack this prestigious exam and now we are likely to become victims of communal politics," said another student, requesting anonymity.Noor Mohammad Baba, a political analyst based in Kashmir under the University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines, said that admission in universities across the country that is funded by the state should be merit-based and non-discriminatory, with no quotas based solely on religion. “Universities across the world are meant to be accommodative. This kind of categorisation is wrong."Noor Mohammad BabaHe further said that the UGC regulations in India prohibit any form of discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth. “We don’t have any institution in the country that can deny admission, not even in the minority status universities,” he added.The Quint reached out to SMVDIME authorities but received no response. This report will be updated if they comment.*Names of students and family members have been changed upon request to protect their identity. (Auquib Javeed is an independent journalist reporting on news and politics from Srinagar.)

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'What's Our Crime?': Communal Admissions Row Leaves Kashmiri Students in Dark

Right-wing groups like VHP have demanded that the admission list of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute be scrapped.

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