Jammu and Kashmir should have been a singular, unified entity not only in terms of geography but also in spirit. Sadly, the vector of polarisation has ensured that over the years a hyphen — the proverbial great divide — has separated Hindu-dominated Jammu from Muslim-dominated Kashmir. This chasm seems to have worsened even though both regions were welded into a single Union territory after the Narendra Modi government’s unilateral abrogation of Article 370. Recently, the National Medical Commission withdrew its permission to the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence on account of ‘regulatory non-compliance’. Yet, the NMC had granted the SMVDIME the requisite approval after due diligence only four months ago. Whispers suggest that the NMC caved in to the intimidation by the Bharatiya Janata Party and its right-wing hawks after a higher number of Muslim students, having sat for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, secured seats in that institution. The whetting of its appetite has now made the communal ogre demand more. For instance, there have been protests in Jammu against a proposal to set up a law university in Kashmir: Jammu, incidentally, was allotted an Indian Institute of Technology and an Indian Institute of Management in 2016. There was similar objectionable — orchestrated — outrage at the ostensibly asymmetrical representation of Muslim cricket and football players in Jammu and Kashmir’s under-14 cricket team and its Santosh Trophy squad, respectively.

These are egregious demands. The prioritisation of religious identity over merit in the realms of education and sport is not only unethical but it also violates India’s constitutional template. Institutional kowtowing to such acts that willingly sow the seeds of division among faiths end up fattening the beast. But then the malaise — the State’s unwillingness to challenge and eradicate discrimination against minorities — that is evident in Jammu is by no means an exception. New India itself repeatedly endorses such transgressions in diverse forms: from lynchings of Muslims and cries of love jihad against them to the assault on Bengal’s migrant labourers, many of whom are Muslims, by vigilantes in states ruled by the BJP. The religious fault line between Jammu and Kashmir appears to run across the length and the breadth of the republic. In that sense, J&K’s ‘integration’ with the rest of (New) India, something that the prime minister harps on, is now truly complete.