How a College Closure Exposed India’s Communal Fault Lines

News Desk

Islamabad: When 18-year-old Saniya Jan cleared India’s highly competitive medical entrance exam last year, it marked the fulfilment of a long-held dream.

A top student from Baramulla in Kashmir, she chose the newly established Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Medical Institute (SMVDMI) in Reasi district during counselling, drawn by its relative proximity and the promise of quality education.

Just weeks after classes began in November, that dream was abruptly derailed.

Earlier this month, India’s National Medical Commission (NMC) revoked recognition of SMVDMI, citing deficiencies in infrastructure and faculty. The decision followed weeks of protests by right-wing Hindu groups angered by the fact that Muslim students dominated admissions at the institute’s inaugural MBBS programme.

According to Al Jazeera, of the 50 students admitted, 42 were Muslims—mostly from Kashmir—while seven were Hindus and one a Sikh. The college, run by a Hindu religious trust linked to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine and partially funded by the government, quickly became the centre of a heated communal controversy.

Protests and Pressure

Local Hindu groups staged daily demonstrations outside the campus, arguing that Muslims should not benefit from an institution associated with a Hindu religious trust. Some protesters went further, demanding that admissions be reserved exclusively for Hindu students and calling for the college’s closure.

Legislators from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) petitioned the region’s lieutenant governor, amplifying pressure on the authorities.

On January 6, the NMC announced it was cancelling the college’s accreditation, citing shortcomings in faculty strength, hospital bed occupancy, patient flow, libraries and operating theatres. A day later, the institute’s permission to operate was formally withdrawn.

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Students Contest the Claims

Students, however, dispute the regulator’s assessment. Many told Al Jazeera that the college was well-equipped and compared favourably with established government medical institutions.

“I don’t think the college lacked resources,” said Jahan, a student who asked to be identified only by her second name. “We’ve seen other colleges where one cadaver is shared by an entire batch. Here, we had four, and every student got individual dissection time.”

Another student, Rafiq, said even government medical colleges in Srinagar lacked facilities available at SMVDMI. “My cousins study there, and they don’t have what we had here,” he said.

Saniya’s father, Gazanfar Ahmad, recalled a welcoming environment when he dropped his daughter off. “The faculty was supportive. Inside the campus, it felt like no one cared about religion,” he said.

Political analyst Zafar Choudhary questioned the timing of the NMC’s findings. “If the infrastructure was deficient, how was the college approved in the first place?” he asked. “Logic suggests facilities would have improved after classes began, not deteriorated overnight.”

Merit vs Identity

Admissions to Indian medical colleges are based on the religion-neutral National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), taken by more than two million students annually for around 120,000 MBBS seats. Students are allotted colleges based on merit rankings, preferences and seat availability.

Choudhary described the protests as fundamentally misguided. “Students give multiple choices during counselling. How can it be their fault where they are placed?” he said.

The BJP has denied opposing Muslim admissions but defended what it called the “sentiments” of Hindu devotees. “This college is named after Mata Vaishno Devi, and millions are emotionally attached to the shrine,” BJP spokesperson Altaf Thakur told Al Jazeera, insisting the recognition was withdrawn solely due to regulatory shortcomings.

Fallout and Fears

In the aftermath, students packed their belongings and returned home. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the affected students would be accommodated in other medical colleges and would not be made to “suffer due to the NMC’s decision.”

Abdullah and other regional leaders condemned what they described as a campaign to communalise education. Legislator Tanvir Sadiq noted that the university housing the medical college had received more than $13 million in government funding since 2017. “That makes all Kashmiris stakeholders, not just temple donors,” he said.

Nasir Khuehami, head of the Jammu and Kashmir Students’ Association, warned of dangerous precedent. “If institutions run by one community are seen as exclusive to that community, education itself becomes a battleground,” he said.

For students like Saniya Jan, the episode has turned merit into a source of vulnerability. “They studied, competed and earned their seats,” her father said quietly. “But in the end, merit was turned into religion.”