SMVDIME row: Students can't be barred for faith, says CM Omar

Srinagar, Nov 25: Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said that suggestions to exclude Muslim students from admission to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Medical College go against the principles on which the institution was established.

Speaking to reporters in Jammu, Omar said that students who qualified through NEET have earned their seats and cannot be denied admission on the basis of religion.

He said that if any group or political leader wanted the college to admit students only from a particular community, the institution should have been granted minority status at the time of its establishment.

“When this medical college was set up, if the intention was to keep Muslim students out, its status should have been declared accordingly,” Omar said as per KNS.

He said that students seek education and professional training, and that religion does not affect their right to study in any institution. “When children are attending a college named after Mata Vaishno Devi, they are going there to learn and to become doctors,” he said.

Referring to recent statements by BJP leader Sunil Sharma, Omar said that exclusionary approaches could lead to social distance and blame placed later on the same communities.

“If students are pushed away and later accused of being alienated or influenced, responsibility must be acknowledged,” he said.

He added that if the college is formally granted minority status, Muslim students will seek opportunities elsewhere, including outside the country.

“If the status is changed, they will get chances in other places, even in Bangladesh or Turkey, but they should not be blamed later,” Omar said.