The Jammu and Kashmir BJP on Wednesday asked the Omar Abdullah government to amend the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University Act to ensure the admission of only those students who have faith in the deity — an implicit reference to Hindus.

The party, which has been accused of communalising the admissions to MBBS courses in the university’s medical college, accused the chief minister of harbouring anti-national feelings and said he was politicising and vitiating the issue of admissions
by creating divisions among the communities.

BJP leaders, led by chief spokesman Sunil Sethi, on Wednesday addressed a media conference in Jammu to respond to allegations that the party was communalising admissions. Of 50 students who got admission to the maiden batch of MBBS courses in the university recently, 42 were reportedly Muslim, seven Hindu and one Sikh, triggering protests in Jammu.

The BJP recently kicked up a political storm after its leaders submitted a memorandum before LG Manoj Sinha seeking to scrap the admission list because most qualifiers were Muslim.

The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG), which is the entrance examination for MBBS courses, is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

Sethi said the admissions had triggered anger among Hindus as 42 qualifiers “belong to a religion that has no faith in Vaishno Devi”.

“There is anger among the Hindu community, who say an institution that runs on donations for the shrine should benefit the community that has faith in the shrine,” he said.

Senior leader Ankur Sharma said the BJP was sending a clear message to Omar that the relevant law should be amended so that those who have faith in the deity alone get admission.

“The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly can amend the law,” he said, adding that if Omar respects the faith of Hindus, the government should make the necessary changes.

Advocate Abhinav Sharma, another BJP leader, appeared to rebut allegations that Hindu students failed to qualify for the test, saying many Hindu students didn’t select the college as their preference.

“(That is the reason) more meritorious Hindu students could not make it to the list,” he said.

BJP leaders said since the question involved the issue of faith (of Hindu students) and the legal rights (of Muslim students), the rights of Muslims can be protected in a different form, suggesting only Hindus should get admissions in the college while Muslim students can be accommodated at other institutions.

Omar recently said that when a bill for setting up the university was moved in the Assembly (in 1999), it made no mention that the admissions would be done on the basis of religion. The bill was unlikely to have become a law without the support of Muslim MLAs.

The chief minister touched a raw nerve with the BJP by suggesting that if admissions of Muslim students are cancelled, they could study in Bangladesh or Turkey.

The BJP leaders hit back and said such comments had exposed Omar’s “anti-India” feelings as he named only those countries which are avowedly anti-India.