Jammu: Several Hindu groups on Monday staged a joint protest at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence (SMVDIME) in Reasi district, urging authorities to revoke the first seat allocation list for MBBS admission.
They also demanded a fresh admission process and a review of existing rules to guarantee sufficient reservation for Hindus in the shrine-funded institution.
The SMVDIME has been sanctioned 50 MBBS seats this year, and admission of 42 students of a particular community in the maiden batch for the 2025-26 academic year sparked a controversy with right-wing Hindu groups questioning the process and demanding the grant of “minority institution” status to the newly established institute.
Officials, however, said admissions were made on merit, as the institute has not been granted minority status and, therefore, no reservation criteria based on religion could be applied.
Accusing the authorities of overlooking representation for Hindus in the institution, the protesters belonging to Yuva Rajput Sabha, Rashtriya Bajrang Dal and Movement Kalki assembled near the university and chanted slogans while moving towards its main gate.
The protesters forcibly opened the university gate, but a police party rushed to the scene and stopped them from marching ahead.
“Of the first batch of 50 students, only seven are Hindus and one Sikh, while 42 students are Muslims which is not acceptable to us…We demand a fresh admission process and a re-examination of existing rules to guarantee sufficient reservation for Hindus,” Rashtriya Bajrang Dal president Rakesh Bajrangi said.
He said the medical college was built with the donations of the Hindus visiting the Vaishno Devi shrine, and the money should be spent only for the welfare of the community.
Former president of Yuva Rajpat Sabha Vikram Singh said they will intensify the protest if the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, who is the chairman of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, does not intervene immediately and set things right.
