Indian authorities have shut down a medical college in Indian administered Kashmir following sustained pressure from right-wing Hindu groups protesting the admission of a predominantly Muslim student cohort, a move widely viewed as a capitulation to sectarian agitation.
On January 6, the National Medical Commission revoked the recognition of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Medical Institute, located in Reasi district in the Himalayan region overlooking the Pir Panjal range. The decision effectively halted the college’s ability to operate its medical programme.
The move came after protests erupted over the religious composition of the institute’s first-ever batch of medical students. Of the 50 students admitted to the five-year Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery programme in November, 42 were Muslims, most from the Kashmir Valley, while seven were Hindus and one was a Sikh. The private college, established by a Hindu religious trust and partially funded by the government, had launched its inaugural intake only weeks earlier.
Medical college admissions across India, whether public or private, are determined through a centralised and religion-neutral process based on performance in the National Entrance Examination Test, conducted annually by the National Testing Agency under the federal Ministry of Education. More than two million students sit the exam each year, competing for roughly 120,000 medical seats nationwide.
Students who achieve high scores typically secure places in public colleges, where fees are lower, and competition is intense. Those who meet the qualifying threshold but fall short of public college cut-offs are allocated to private institutions through a structured counselling process.
One such student was Saniya Jan, an 18-year-old from Baramulla in Kashmir, who described passing the exam as a life-defining moment. After qualifying, she selected the Reasi-based college due to its relative proximity, as students from Kashmir are often forced to travel long distances to pursue higher education.
Her parents accompanied her to the campus when the academic year began in November, believing she had secured a long-awaited opportunity through merit and hard work. However, within weeks, demonstrations by local Hindu groups escalated, demanding that Muslim students be removed from the college.
Protesters argued that because the institution was funded in part through offerings made at the Mata Vaishno Devi temple, Muslim students had no right to study there. Demonstrations continued for weeks outside the campus gates, with slogans raised daily.
Members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party went further, submitting petitions to the region’s lieutenant governor calling for admissions to be restricted exclusively to Hindu students. Their demands later expanded to calls for the complete closure of the college.
Amid intensifying pressure, the National Medical Commission announced that the institute failed to meet minimum standards required for medical education, citing deficiencies in faculty, hospital facilities, patient numbers, libraries, and operating theatres. The following day, the college’s formal permission to operate was withdrawn.
Students and parents, however, disputed the regulator’s claims. Several students told Al Jazeera that the college was well-equipped and, in some respects, better-resourced than established government medical colleges in the region. They pointed to adequate laboratory facilities, multiple cadavers for anatomical study, and supportive teaching staff.
Political analyst Zafar Choudhary questioned the timing of the decision, noting that regulatory approval had already been granted and that infrastructure would normally improve rather than deteriorate after classes commenced. He described the demands of protest groups as illogical, given that admissions were conducted through a nationally standardised system beyond the control of individual students.
Following the shutdown, students were forced to vacate the campus and return home. Many expressed fear that their academic futures had been derailed due to religious identity rather than academic performance.
The controversy has drawn wider criticism across the region. Critics pointed out that Indian administered Kashmir, a Muslim-majority area, already hosts medical institutions where Hindu students are admitted under minority quotas, highlighting the selective nature of the outrage.
While BJP representatives denied that the issue was about religion, senior regional figures rejected this claim. Former chief minister Omar Abdullah condemned the campaign against Muslim students and announced that all affected students would be accommodated in other medical colleges through additional seats to ensure their education was not disrupted.
Regional legislators and student bodies warned that framing education through a Hindu versus Muslim lens risks communalising academic institutions and undermining merit-based systems nationwide. They stressed that universities founded or administered by Muslim organisations across India do not exclude non-Muslim students.
For students like Saniya, the shutdown has left deep uncertainty. Despite passing one of India’s most competitive examinations, she now waits for clarity on her future. “This happened because of who we are,” she said. “They turned merit into religion.”
