Kashmir medical college approval pulled after Hindutva protests

SRINAGAR, Kashmir (MNTV) — India’s medical education regulator has withdrawn approval for a newly established medical college in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, weeks after the institution became the target of Hindu nationalist protests over the admission of a predominantly Muslim first batch of students.

The National Medical Commission (NMC) on Tuesday revoked permission for the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence, located in the Reasi district, to run its undergraduate MBBS program for the 2025–26 academic year. 

The move came after protests erupted following the release of the college’s inaugural admission list, which included 44 Muslim students from Kashmir and six Hindu students from Jammu.

While the commission has officially attributed the decision to “technical” and infrastructural shortcomings, the timing has raised concerns among rights advocates and education observers, who point to sustained pressure from Hindu supremacist groups opposing the selection of Muslim candidates.

The protests were led by the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Sangharsh Samiti and drew participation from activists linked to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, its ideological parent the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, as well as groups such as Shiv Sena and Bajrang Dal. 

The demonstrators demanded that the admission list be scrapped and that preference be given to Hindu students, arguing that the institute was funded through donations linked to the Vaishno Devi Hindu shrine.

Indian law, however, does not permit religious criteria in admissions at non-minority institutions. The medical college is not classified as a minority-run institution, making the demands legally untenable under existing regulations.

In a letter issued on Tuesday, the National Medical Commission said its Medical Assessment and Rating Board had initially granted the institute permission to admit 50 MBBS students after document scrutiny and a physical inspection conducted earlier this year. Admissions were completed in line with that approval.

The commission said it later received “multiple complaints containing serious allegations” related to infrastructure, clinical facilities, faculty strength, and the availability of resident doctors. Following a surprise inspection, the regulator concluded that the deficiencies were “gross and substantial in nature” and warned that continuing the course would compromise medical education standards and harm students’ academic interests.

Civil rights advocates, however, note that the complaints and inspections followed closely on the heels of public agitation over the religious composition of the student intake, raising questions about whether regulatory mechanisms were deployed in response to political and ideological pressure rather than purely academic considerations.

The episode has renewed debate over the shrinking space for merit-based access to education in India, particularly in Muslim-majority Kashmir, where institutions and students have increasingly found themselves entangled in broader ideological battles linked to Hindutva, the Hindu nationalist worldview promoted by groups aligned with the ruling establishment.

Analysts say the case reflects a wider pattern in which Muslim representation in public institutions becomes a flashpoint, often followed by administrative or legal interventions that disproportionately affect Muslim students, even when formal rules have been followed.