After medical institute, law varsity caught in BJP’s divisive J-K politics
After getting medical institute shut down, BJP wants National Law University shifted from Kashmir to Jammu, citing fear psychosis and regional imbalance
Education seems to be the latest casualty in the BJP’s attempt to sow communal and regional tensions between the Hindu-dominated Jammu province and the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley in the Union Territory comprising the two.
After getting the registration of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence (SMVDIME) in Katra district cancelled by the National Medical Commission (NMC) over 42 of 50 seats going to Muslim students, Hindu right-wingers have now turned their focus to the proposed National Law University (NLU).
The varsity is scheduled to start functioning from a temporary campus in the Valley’s Budgam district from April this year. But the BJP now wants the institution shifted to Jammu arguing that a “fear psychosis” will work among parents “despite the Home Ministry eliminating militancy” and they will be fearful of sending their wards to the Valley.
BJP writes to CM
The BJP-backed J&K High Court Bar Association (Jammu) wrote to J&K CM Omar Abdullah earlier this week urging that the NLU be shifted to Jammu, with the “post-reorganisation vision of inclusive growth and regional justice” in the Union Territory. It has claimed setting it up in Budgam “would perpetuate regional imbalance”, while the “students from Jammu and other parts of the country may face logistical, climatic and accessibility challenges”.
Political leaders in Kashmir believe the BJP’s fresh demand has got impetus from the cancellation of the SMVDIME’s registration. Last week, the NMC withdrew the Letter of Permission (LoP) granted to SMVDIME in Katra to run an MBBS course for the 2025-26 academic session, citing serious deficiencies in its infrastructure.
The NMC in September last year allowed the college to conduct the MBBS course, admitting 50 students, after issuing a LoP based on a detailed inspection by its team of experts. However, of the 50 students, 42—selected on the basis of their NEET rankings—were Muslim, prompting a protest by Hindu groups, which later celebrated the cancellation of the institute’s medical registration.
BJP’s logic
The row over NLU also strikes at the heart of the divide between the Hindu-majority Jammu, which has emerged as a BJP stronghold in recent years, and the Valley, where the Opposition parties accuse the BJP of disempowering the majority Muslim community.
Explaining the rationale behind the party’s fresh demand, BJP leader and Hiranagar MLA, Advocate Vijay Kumar Sharma, said, “It is the opinion of the entire Jammu province that the university should be established here.” Sharma also claimed that the climate and the location of Jammu also makes it an ideal place for setting up the NLU.
Another reason behind the BJP’s demand to set up the NLU in Jammu, according to Sharma, is Kashmir’s security situation.
Also read: NMC withdraws permission for Vaishno Devi Medical college
“Students can easily take admission without any fear. Though militancy has been curtailed and the Home Ministry is getting a control over the matter, the general public, particularly students, have a fear psychosis against going to Kashmir and studying there. Also, their parents are not willing to send their wards to Kashmir,” Sharma claimed.
Sharma claimed Kashmir has always got priority over Jammu in the allocation of premier institutions like the Sher-I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), the hospital in Srinagar’s Soura area which, he said, has facilities akin to AIIMS Delhi. “Likewise, there are so many institutions. There are 14 corporations, all with head offices in Kashmir Valley. There are many more things; you have to go by the perception of the people of Jammu also,” said Sharma.
Why Valley was chosen
The J&K Assembly last year passed a resolution for setting up the NLU in Kashmir, and CM Omar Abdullah’s remarks on the issue was based on a private member resolution moved by the Congress MLA from north Kashmir’s Bandipora, Nizam-ud-Din Bhat.
Bhat told The Federal that certain criteria has been followed in granting the NLU to Kashmir. “Kashmir has more population than Jammu. Also, Jammu is nearer to other parts of the country and it has better accessibility compared to Kashmir,” he explained.
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Bhat feels that this is a “deliberate attempt” by the BJP to “vitiate” J&K’s political atmosphere. “They (BJP) want to create a regional divide. Our country cannot be divisive. This is a welfare state. We were born in a democracy. Religion shouldn’t be brought into this. Learning institutions should not be vitiated with divisive politics,” said Bhat.
Unmet promises
Veteran politician and CPI(M) leader MY Tarigami attributed the BJP’s new move to the fact that its promise of Jammu getting “prosperous” after August 5, 2019, has not materialised. “There is dissatisfaction among a sizable section in Jammu, including businessmen. The promises of prosperity and employment generation haven’t materialised. So, here they(BJP) are, working within the frame of their political agenda.”
Tarigami said two premier institutions, including IIM and IIT, were established in Jammu earlier, and the people in Kashmir didn’t raise any voice against it. “Because Kashmiris feel if Jammu gets benefitted, it is not a bad thing. Similarly, Jammu people must understand this and should not be swayed by emotions,” said Tarigami, who is the MLA from south Kashmir’s Kulgam.
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For now, CM Abdullah has rejected the BJP’s demand. However, there already seems to be a climb-down from the NC leader, who added, “Even before a decision is taken, there are cries of discrimination. No decision has been made yet. Let’s decide first.”
Will Omar baulk?
Senior BJP leader Ashok Kaul, who is also the party’s general secretary, also hinted at this to The Federal, “The chief minister has said that he has not finalised the location for the university.” This has given credence to reports in the Valley that Abdullah, who has been continuously warming up to the saffron party since assuming charge in 2024, may buckle under pressure.
However, NC chief spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar told The Federal, “The CM has made it clear. He has said when IITs and IIMs were given to Jammu, people in Kashmir did not protest. This NLU has been designated for Kashmir. I think it will stay in Kashmir. The location hasn’t been finalised. Once that is done, he will take the final call. It will stay in Kashmir and that was decided long back.”
