BJP objects to Muslim intake in Vaishno Devi Medical College, stirs row | India News

SRINAGAR: BJP, VHP and Bajrang Dal have objected to admissions of Muslim college students, principally from Kashmir, to Mata Vaishno Devi Medical College in Katra after freshers from the neighborhood shaped the majority of the establishment’s first batch.This marks a possible new Jammu versus Kashmir political row as J&Ok’s governing National Conference (NC) and opposition PDP have slammed the objections. Although the school stuffed seats strictly on NEET’s benefit checklist and reserved 85% of its seats for J&Ok domiciles, solely eight Hindu college students from Jammu made it to the primary MBBS batch of fifty.After the admissions have been accomplished earlier this month, VHP and Bajrang Dal have been the primary to protest, arguing that an establishment funded by Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board ought to give desire to Hindus solely. They additionally insisted that the school, funded via donations from Hindu devotees, ought to serve Hindus’ pursuits.On Saturday, BJP’s Sunil Sharma formally lodged a protest with J&Ok lieutenant-governor (LG) Manoj Sinha, who’s ex-officio chairman of the shrine board, submitting a memorandum in search of corrective measures and a overview of admission norms.Without in search of minority standing for the medical faculty, Sharma made it clear that his celebration had objected to the intake of “the majority of students from a particular community”. “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,” Sharma stated.In Kashmir, the place medical research are most well-liked by many, BJP’s protests haven’t gone down effectively. “If hospitals, schools, universities, and medical colleges start deciding intakes on the basis of religion, what kind of country will we become? Tomorrow, will a patient be treated according to their faith? Will merit be pushed aside to satisfy majoritarian demands? This is a recipe for disaster,” NC MLA and spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq stated.BJP’s stance on Vaishno Devi Medical College, the place picks are purely merit-based, is not only misguided however harmful, Sadiq argued. “A shrine-funded institution does not become a religion-based institution. Donations made out of devotion cannot be converted into tools of discrimination,” Sadiq added, urging BJP not to flip our establishments into “battlegrounds of faith”.PDP’s Iltija Mufti criticised BJP’s stand however did so whereas taking a dig at NC and its CM Omar Abdullah. “In ‘Naya Kashmir’, discrimination towards Muslims now extends to education. The irony is that this anti-Muslim apartheid is being legitimised and carried out in India’s only Muslim majority state with its only Muslim chief minister,” Iltija stated.Peoples Conference chairman and legislator Sajad Lone alleged that BJP’s stance amounted to “experimenting with the concept of communalising medical sciences”. “I hope they understand there is a proper admission test called NEET. And that is an all-India test,” Lone stated.