Medical college in IIOJK shut following protests over Muslim student admissions

India has shut down a medical college in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) after protests by right-wing Hindu groups over the admission of a large number of Muslim students to its first batch, a move critics say reflects growing religious polarisation in the education sector, Aljazeera reported on Thursday.

According to reports, India’s federal medical education regulator, the National Medical Commission (NMC), on January 6 withdrew recognition from the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Medical Institute (SMVDMI) in Reasi district, a mountainous area overlooking the Pir Panjal range that separates Jammu from the Kashmir Valley. The decision came weeks after protests erupted over the religious composition of the college’s inaugural class.

Of the 50 students admitted to the five-year Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) programme in November, 42 were Muslims — mostly from Kashmir — while seven were Hindus and one was a Sikh. The institute, founded by a Hindu religious trust and partially funded by the government, had launched its first MBBS batch this year.

Medical admissions across India are conducted through the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), a centralised examination administered by the National Testing Agency under the Ministry of Education. Each year, more than two million candidates compete for roughly 120,000 MBBS seats nationwide.

Students who clear the exam are allotted seats through a counselling process based on merit, preferences and availability. Public medical colleges are generally preferred due to lower fees, while private institutions admit candidates who meet the minimum threshold but miss higher cutoffs.

One such student was Saniya Jan, an 18-year-old from Baramulla district in Kashmir, who said securing admission to SMVDMI was a “dream come true”. She chose the institute due to its relative proximity to her home. Her father, Gazanfar Ahmad, said the family was relieved when she began classes in November, describing the campus environment as normal and inclusive.

However, soon after the academic session began, local Hindu groups launched protests, arguing that Muslim students had “no business” enrolling at a college funded by donations from devotees of the Mata Vaishno Devi temple, a prominent Hindu shrine. Demonstrators gathered daily outside the campus, demanding the cancellation of admissions and later calling for the college’s closure.

Lawmakers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also wrote to the region’s lieutenant governor — the federally appointed administrator — urging that admissions be reserved exclusively for Hindu students.

As protests intensified, the NMC announced that it had withdrawn the college’s recognition, citing failure to meet “minimum standard requirements”. It pointed to deficiencies in faculty strength, bed occupancy, outpatient flow, libraries and operating theatres. A day later, the commission also withdrew the college’s letter of permission to operate.

Students and parents, however, disputed the regulator’s claims. Several students said the institute was well-equipped and compared favourably with other medical colleges. Political analyst Zafar Choudhary questioned how such deficiencies could emerge after regulatory approval had already been granted.

“The infrastructure should have improved after classes began. The sudden emergence of shortcomings raises serious questions,” he said.

The college administration has not issued any public statement, and its executive head did not respond to requests for comment.

Following the closure, students were forced to vacate hostels and return home. Some pointed out that Hindu students study in medical colleges in Muslim-majority Kashmir under reserved quotas, raising concerns over selective application of principles.

The BJP has denied that the issue was communal, maintaining that the NMC acted solely on regulatory grounds. Its Kashmir spokesperson Altaf Thakur said the sentiments of devotees attached to the shrine should be respected, but insisted the decision was unrelated to religion.

Last week, IIOJK Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the affected students would not be allowed to suffer due to the regulator’s decision and would be accommodated in other medical colleges through supernumerary seats. He strongly criticised the protests, saying the campaign had “played with the future” of students.

Regional lawmaker Tanvir Sadiq noted that the university housing the medical college had received substantial government funding, making all residents of the region stakeholders. He warned that turning merit-based admissions into a religious issue would have long-term consequences.

Nasir Khuehami, head of the Jammu and Kashmir Students’ Association, said the controversy risked communalising education, noting that minority-run institutions elsewhere in India do not exclude students based on faith.

Back home in Baramulla, Saniya said she was uncertain about her future. “I cleared one of the toughest exams in the country and earned my seat on merit,” she said. “Now everything has collapsed. They turned our merit into religion.”