SMVDIME students shouldn’t become victim of administrative confusion: Hakeem Yaseen

Srinagar, Jan 7: President of the People’s Democratic Front (PDF) and former minister, Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen, on Wednesday, while referring to the recent controversy surrounding admissions of students at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University said it was highly unfortunate that politics was being played with the lives and futures of students.

In a statement issued here he clarified that the students in question were selected purely on merit and not on the basis of any individual’s recommendation. “The future of students should never become a casualty of political point-scoring or administrative confusion,” he said. Hakeem acknowledged that the government had intervened in time to safeguard the future of the affected students, but maintained that such controversies should not arise in the first place. He said that cancellation of admissions or shifting students to other institutions cannot be considered a viable or permanent solution.

“These are temporary measures that only add to the anxiety and uncertainty faced by students and their families,” he added.

He expressed serious concern over what he termed as the continued failure of the Government of India to fully understand J&K in its totality, including both its internal sensitivities and external dimensions.

Hakeem said it was deeply unfortunate that despite decades of engagement, policy interventions and political developments, J&K continues to be approached without a comprehensive and empathetic understanding of its unique socio-political and cultural realities. He said that such an approach has often resulted in avoidable misunderstandings and policy missteps that have hurt the interests of the people of the region. Hakeem pointed out that after a long period, J&K had begun to witness a phase of relative peace, stability and developmental progress. However, he regretted that certain elements, driven by vested interests, do not want peace to prevail in the region. “Whenever the situation starts improving, such elements become active and attempt to disturb peace by creating law and order problems on one pretext or another,” he said.