SRINAGAR: Former J&K Chief Minister and PDP Mehbooba Mufti on Friday described the National Medical Commission’s order to revoke the permission of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence (SMVDIME) in Reasi to conduct an MBBS course as one with far-reaching consequences and warned that it could encourage “communal forces” across the country to exclude Kashmiri Muslim students from educational institutions.Mehbooba also questioned the role of the elected government of J&K and stated that CM Omar Abdullah had publicly said that the medical college should be closed. “Was there some understanding or discussion that what he said happened? The prime minister should have opposed the decision to close the college,” she told a press secretary at the PDP headquarters.She claimed that the decision was taken solely under pressure to remove Kashmiri Muslims from the medical facility. “The bigger question is that Muslim students from Kashmir have not been given a place in their own state. If this is their fate in J&K, then how are they being treated in other parts of the country?” she said.The NMC on Tuesday withdrew its permission letter for starting the MBBS course at SMVDIME with 50 seats for the academic year 2025-26, citing major deficiencies in faculty strength, clinical material and infrastructure. It said that students admitted during counseling would be placed in other government medical colleges.Many political parties have questioned this and asked how the approval was granted just four months ago, on September 8, 2025, when the minimum standards were not met.Omar had reacted strongly on Thursday, saying people across the country were struggling to get medical colleges while people in Jammu celebrated the closure of one following protests on religious grounds. He said Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, which conducted SMVDIME, should be asked why the NMC withdrew the permission. “Who is the chancellor of the university? You should also ask him,” he told reporters.The Chancellor of the university is LG Manoj Sinha.The controversy erupted in November last year after 42 of the 50 seats went to Muslim students, mostly from Kashmir, while only seven Hindu students from Jammu were on the list.This led to protests from the Jammu-based Shri MataVaishno Devi Sangharsh Samiti, an umbrella organization of about 60 religious and civil society groups, which argued that an institution funded by the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board should give preference to Hindu students.Later, the BJP supported the agitation with party leaders making representations to LG Sinha, chairman of the shrine board. They sought a review of the admissions policy, arguing that “faith” should be the admission criterion for a college based on donations from Hindus.
