Saurabh Mukherjee
Protests have intensified across parts of Jammu after organisations linked to the Sangh Parivar objected to the admission list of the newly established Shri Mata Vaishnodevi Institute of Medical Excellence in Katra.
The trigger for the unrest is the institute’s first batch of students, 90% of whom are Muslims from Kashmir, selected through the J&K Board of Professional Entrance Examinations (JKBOPEE).
The demonstrations, led by the Hindutava outfits, VHP and Bajrang Dal, have gained political backing from BJP Udhampur MLA R S Pathania.
Protesters argue that a medical institution built with donations offered at the Vaishno Devi shrine should not have a majority of Muslim students and are demanding reservations for Hindus — a move that is legally untenable, as the institute is not recognised as a minority institution.
The admissions list cleared by JKBOPEE includes 50 candidates — 42 from Kashmir and eight from Jammu — of whom 36 candidates from Kashmir and three from Jammu have already taken admission.
In response, VHP and Bajrang Dal activists have staged demonstrations outside the medical institute, even burning an effigy of the Chief Executive Officer of the Shrine Board.
VHP J&K president Rajesh Gupta demanded that admissions for the 2025–26 batch be halted and the process revised. He termed the current list “a conspiracy to Islamize the medical college”.
Bajrang Dal J&K president Rakesh Bajrangi accused JKBOPEE of bias, insisting that the institute should have admitted students from the central NEET pool since it was set up from nationwide pilgrimage donations.
“We have no objection to candidates from Kashmir taking admission in any other medical college, but seats should be reserved for Hindu candidates in the Vaishnodevi college, as it has come up with Vaishno Devi shrine donations,” Bajrangi told The Indian Express.
MLA Pathania also echoed these demands, stating, “Even minority institutes that get government funding have seats reserved for the community which they claim to represent… Here, the institute does not take a single penny from the government and runs on donations made by Vaishno Devi pilgrims. So seats should be reserved for Hindu students as the issue involves the faith of pilgrims.”
Officials familiar with the process said the admissions were fully in line with National Medical Council (NMC) guidelines, which mandate that all medical seats in J&K — 1,685 across 13 colleges — be filled through NEET rankings, with 85% reserved for UT domiciles. JKBOPEE prepares domicile lists for government colleges and all seats in private colleges based on merit and counselling.
They added that the Vaishnodevi institute’s admissions began late, following NMC approval on September 8, after two rounds of regular counselling had already concluded.
The selection list was therefore drawn during a third round. Of 5,865 shortlisted domicile candidates, 2,000 were called for counselling; officials noted that over 70% of those with higher merit were Muslims from Kashmir.
They also pointed out that this pattern is consistent with recent years: despite Jammu having more medical seats (900 compared to 675 in Kashmir), most are filled by candidates from Kashmir. For engineering seats, however, the trend is reversed, with more students from Jammu opting in.
Officials said the college had previously requested the Centre and NMC to permit central-pool admissions, but the request was rejected since only government institutions, institutions established by Acts of Parliament such as AIIMS, or Deemed Universities can do so.
Rattan Lal Gupta, the National Conference’s Jammu province president, criticised the Shrine Board for not applying for minority status while seeking approval from NMC to establish the medical college.
Without such a status, he said, JKBOPEE was bound to admit students strictly on NEET-based merit: “Most of the students with higher merit happened to be from the majority community (Muslims) in Kashmir.”
The trigger for the unrest is the institute’s first batch of students, 90% of whom are Muslims from Kashmir, selected through the J&K Board of Professional Entrance Examinations (JKBOPEE).
The demonstrations, led by the Hindutava outfits, VHP and Bajrang Dal, have gained political backing from BJP Udhampur MLA R S Pathania.
Protesters argue that a medical institution built with donations offered at the Vaishno Devi shrine should not have a majority of Muslim students and are demanding reservations for Hindus — a move that is legally untenable, as the institute is not recognised as a minority institution.
The admissions list cleared by JKBOPEE includes 50 candidates — 42 from Kashmir and eight from Jammu — of whom 36 candidates from Kashmir and three from Jammu have already taken admission.
In response, VHP and Bajrang Dal activists have staged demonstrations outside the medical institute, even burning an effigy of the Chief Executive Officer of the Shrine Board.
VHP J&K president Rajesh Gupta demanded that admissions for the 2025–26 batch be halted and the process revised. He termed the current list “a conspiracy to Islamize the medical college”.
Bajrang Dal J&K president Rakesh Bajrangi accused JKBOPEE of bias, insisting that the institute should have admitted students from the central NEET pool since it was set up from nationwide pilgrimage donations.
“We have no objection to candidates from Kashmir taking admission in any other medical college, but seats should be reserved for Hindu candidates in the Vaishnodevi college, as it has come up with Vaishno Devi shrine donations,” Bajrangi told The Indian Express.
MLA Pathania also echoed these demands, stating, “Even minority institutes that get government funding have seats reserved for the community which they claim to represent… Here, the institute does not take a single penny from the government and runs on donations made by Vaishno Devi pilgrims. So seats should be reserved for Hindu students as the issue involves the faith of pilgrims.”
Officials familiar with the process said the admissions were fully in line with National Medical Council (NMC) guidelines, which mandate that all medical seats in J&K — 1,685 across 13 colleges — be filled through NEET rankings, with 85% reserved for UT domiciles. JKBOPEE prepares domicile lists for government colleges and all seats in private colleges based on merit and counselling.
They added that the Vaishnodevi institute’s admissions began late, following NMC approval on September 8, after two rounds of regular counselling had already concluded.
The selection list was therefore drawn during a third round. Of 5,865 shortlisted domicile candidates, 2,000 were called for counselling; officials noted that over 70% of those with higher merit were Muslims from Kashmir.
They also pointed out that this pattern is consistent with recent years: despite Jammu having more medical seats (900 compared to 675 in Kashmir), most are filled by candidates from Kashmir. For engineering seats, however, the trend is reversed, with more students from Jammu opting in.
Officials said the college had previously requested the Centre and NMC to permit central-pool admissions, but the request was rejected since only government institutions, institutions established by Acts of Parliament such as AIIMS, or Deemed Universities can do so.
Rattan Lal Gupta, the National Conference’s Jammu province president, criticised the Shrine Board for not applying for minority status while seeking approval from NMC to establish the medical college.
Without such a status, he said, JKBOPEE was bound to admit students strictly on NEET-based merit: “Most of the students with higher merit happened to be from the majority community (Muslims) in Kashmir.”
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