Communalising education undermines country’s pluralist ethos: JKSA

Srinagar, Jan 7: The Jammu & Kashmir Students Association (JKSA) on Wednesday expressed deep concern over the revocation of the Mata Vaishno Devi Medical College’s recognition by the National Medical Commission.

In a press release, the Association stated that this decision marks yet another erosion of the country’s secular and inclusive ethos and raises troubling questions about the growing fragility of our institutional systems. National Convenor of the Association, Nasir Khuehami, said that whether this action has been taken under duress or driven by ideological conviction, it reflects a disturbing trend in which critical institutions of education and healthcare are increasingly exposed to pressure, arbitrariness, and politicisation. He asserted that medical education cannot be reduced to a casualty of ideological extremes, nor can public health be held hostage to selective moral posturing. Such approaches, he said, undermine institutional credibility, erode public trust, and harm the larger national interest.

Emphasising the human cost of such decisions, Khuehami said that the careers of students cannot be held hostage to polarisation or ideological brinkmanship. Hindus are not a minority community in India, and Mata Vaishno Devi Medical College does not qualify as a minority institution under Article 30 of the Constitution.

Consequently, it is bound to follow the admission framework laid down by the National Medical Commission and NEET guidelines, both of which categorically prohibit religious filtering or exclusion in medical admissions. He asserted that demands by certain groups to declare SMVDIME a Hindu-only or minority institution in order to reserve MBBS seats exclusively on religious lines are unconstitutional, legally untenable, and ethically indefensible, he said.