Hindu Groups to Protest in Jammu Over Vaishno Devi Medical College Admission Row

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A coalition of Hindu groups, led by the Shri Mata Vaishnodevi Sangharsh Samiti (SMVSS), will hold a massive protest in Jammu on Saturday to demand that the government declare the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Medical College a minority institution and scrap the current admission list. This move comes after 50 students from the Muslim community, one Sikh, and seven Hindus qualified for the 50 available MBBS seats at the college. The college was recently granted permission to admit students for the 2025-26 academic session, but right-wing Hindu groups have questioned the process and demanded that the college be granted minority status. They claim that this would allow the college to prioritize Hindu students for admission. However, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has criticized the agitation, stating that merit should be the primary criterion for admissions, not a student's religious identity. He warned that excluding meritorious students based on their religion could have far-reaching social consequences. The protest is the latest in a series of demonstrations held by various organizations, including the BJP, VHP, Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena, and Dogra Front, against the admission of a majority of Muslim students to the medical college. The BJP has even submitted a memorandum to Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, asking for admissions to be limited to Hindu students and overseen by the National Medical Commission. The controversy has sparked a heated debate, with some arguing that the college's minority status would be a form of reverse discrimination against Muslim students. Others argue that the current admission process is fair and that the college should not be granted minority status. The situation remains tense, with the protest set to take place on Saturday. The outcome of the protest and the future of the medical college's admission process remain uncertain.