Lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha faced one of the biggest protests yet in the BJP stronghold of Jammu against the admission of Muslim students in Mata Vaishno Devi Medical College, with "LG Go Back" slogans renting the air and his effigy going up in flames.
Protests have been held in Jammu for weeks after it was found that 42 of the 50 students admitted to the first-year MBBS course at the medical college, which runs on government grants and donations from Hindu devotees, turned out to be Muslims. However, Saturday's was the biggest anti-LG government demonstration in years.
Sinha heads the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, which runs the eponymous university along with the medical college. The BJP and other Right-wing groups have been supporting the protests and have sought 100 per cent reservation for Hindu students at the college and cancellation of the admission of the Muslim students.
Sinha on Saturday addressed the 11th convocation ceremony of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University in Katra, around 50km from Jammu. While the ceremony was underway, hundreds of protesters, under the banner of the newly formed Mata Vaishno Devi Sangarsh Samiti, marched towards the Lok Bhavan in Jammu, raising anti-LG slogans.
Agitators included BJP women activists, Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industries president Arun Gupta and other trade union leaders. Gupta is believed to be close to the BJP.
Police had a tough time preventing the protesters from storming the Lok Bhavan, but the cops avoided using force against the largely pro-Hindutva mob. A leader of the Samiti claimed the government was facilitating the "Islamisation" of Jammu and Kashmir, an apparent reference to the dominance of Muslim students on the MBBS list.
“They are encouraging Islam in the sacred land of the Mata. They have made their intentions clear. But Hindu society should wake up and pledge to weed out such a government. We will never allow their impure designs to succeed,” he said. “We will go against (the LG) if it is involved in wrongdoing.”
A protester said they would prefer the medical college to be shut down or relocated, calling Muslim admissions an affront to his religion.