NEW DELHI: Admissions into the newly established Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence in Jammu and Kashmir has sparked a political row after 42 Muslim students were selected in a batch of 50.The Bharatiya Janata Party, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal protested, with the BJP demanding cancellation of admission list and questioning the merit of the students who got admission. Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah called dismissed such accusations saying that the admissions were based on merit.
What sparked the controversy?
The political row erupted after the medical college completed admissions through NEET’s merit list earlier this month. The college admitted students on NEET merit and allocated 85% of its seats to J&K residents. Eight Hindu students from Jammu were selected for the inaugural MBBS batch of 50.Following the completion of admissions, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal staged the initial protests, claiming that a college financed by the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board should prioritise Hindu candidates. They further argued that, as the institution is supported by donations from Hindu devotees, it ought to advance Hindu interests.Officials maintained that admissions were merit-based since the institute lacked minority status and therefore could not apply any religion-based reservations.
‘Seats should be for Mata Vaishno Devi devotees’
The Hindu outfit organisations demanded “minority” institution status for the medical college. Meanwhile, BJP demanded that the admissions should be given to those who have faith in “Mata Vaishno Devi”, arguing that “donations to the shrine board come from Hindus, for the welfare of Hindus.” “Donations to the shrine board come from Hindus, for the welfare of Hindus. We are upset with the board and the college because they did not consider this sentiment. We told the LG that only those who have faith in Mata Vaishno Devi should get admission. This year’s admission is not acceptable to people here. The rules should be changed,” said BJP’s Sunil Sharma, who lodged a protest with J&K LG Manoj Sinha.
‘Our constitution has the word secular’
Criticising the outrage over the admissions, J&K CM Omar Abdullah said that the admissions were “merit-based” and those who wanted admissions otherwise should “take permission from the Supreme Court”. He further questioned the BJP’s demands saying that “if you do not want to keep this country secular, remove that word”.“Some people do not seem to like merit-based admissions. If you want admissions without merit, take permission from the Supreme Court because as far as I know, you cannot give admission without merit,” he said.“There is a demand that admissions be given on the basis of religion, by keeping merit aside, which is not permissible according to the Constitution. Will police perform their duty on the basis of religion,” the chief minister asked. “Our constitution has the word ‘secular’. If you do not want to keep this country secular, remove that word,” he added.Regarding Sharma’s assertion that LG promised to review their demands to scrap the admission list and introduce reservations in the future, Abdullah said, “How can anyone assure such a thing? Then why are you separating the Mata Vaishno Devi University and the hospital? Then say that the hospital was set up from the donations received at the shrine, and that Muslims and non-Hindus won’t be allowed to get treatment there.”
