India shuts medical college in occupied Kashmir following Hindu nationalist protests

Authorities in India have shut down a medical college in Indian Occupied Kashmir(IOK) following weeks of protests by right-wing Hindu groups opposed to the admission of a predominantly Muslim student body, Al Jazeera reported. 

The National Medical Commission (NMC) revoked the recognition of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Medical Institute (SMVDMI) on January 6. The NMC cited “critical deficiencies” in infrastructure and faculty as the official reason for the revocation. However, the decision followed intense protests by Hindu groups who demanded the removal of Muslim students from the institution.

According to Al Jazeera, the controversy began in November when the college admitted its inaugural batch of 50 students, which included 42 Muslims, seven Hindus, and one Sikh. All students secured their placements through the National Entrance Examination Test (NEET), a federal merit-based exam that allocates seats without regard to religion.

Demonstrators argued that since the college receives funding from the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine, a prominent Hindu temple, Muslim students had “no business being there.” Legislators from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supported the protests and petitioned the region’s lieutenant governor to reserve admissions exclusively for Hindus.

The NMC’s justification that the college faced a resource shortage is disputed by both students and political analysts. For instance, Gazanfar Ahmad, the parent of a high-achieving student, commented on the college’s perceived secular environment, stating, “The college was good… It looked like no one cared about religion inside the campus.”

Criticshave condemned the decision as a concession to religious pressure. Omar Abdullah, the region’s chief minister, accused the BJP of “playing with the future” of students and vowed the government would relocate the displaced scholars to other institutions.

“People generally fight for having a medical college in their midst. But here, the fight was put up to have the medical college shut,” Abdullah said.

For 18-year-old students like Saniya Jan, the closure has been devastating. After years of hard work to clear one of India’s toughest entrance exams, she saw her college shut down due to political issues.

“Now everything seems to have crashed,” she said. “All this happened because of our identity. They turned our merit into religion.”