Jammu, December 4, 2025 : The Rashtriya Bajrang Dal (RBD) on Thursday staged a protest march in Jammu against the admission of 42 Muslim students, mostly from Kashmir, to the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence (SMVDIME) and demanded seat reservation for Hindu students at the institute.
The controversy erupted after the medical college recently completed its first-ever MBBS admissions through the NEET merit list. Of the 50 seats in the inaugural batch, 85 per cent were reserved for Jammu and Kashmir domiciles, resulting in the selection of seven Hindu students from Jammu and one Sikh candidate, while the remaining seats went to students from the Kashmir region.
Protest March & Sloganeering
Led by Rashtriya Bajrang Dal chief Rakesh Kumar, scores of activists gathered in the heart of the city and took out a march towards Indira Chowk, raising slogans for “justice” and against Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board. The protesters also burnt effigies of the Chief Minister and the Shrine Board before dispersing peacefully.
The outfit termed the admissions a “conspiracy to dominate a medical college built on the donations of lakhs of devoted Hindus of the Vaishno Devi shrine” and demanded a high-level probe into the selection process.
Demand for Religious Reservation
“How can this institute be diluted and dominated by one community? This needs a probe,” Rakesh Kumar told reporters. He demanded that the Lieutenant Governor’s administration and the Central Government reserve seats for Hindu students, citing religious reservations in institutions run by Muslim and Sikh bodies.
He further warned that if the demand is not met, the organisation would launch a large-scale region-wide agitation.
Attack on Chief Minister
Lashing out at the Chief Minister over his statement that the Shrine Board should repay land costs and stop receiving grant-in-aid, Kumar accused Omar Abdullah of behaving “like a religious leader of Muslims of Kashmir instead of the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.”
He questioned why, despite free land and government aid, 42 out of 50 seats went to Muslim students, while Hindus secured only seven. He asserted that the land did not belong to Abdullah’s family.
CM’s Stand on Merit
Earlier, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah strongly opposed religious segregation in admissions, asserting that merit alone governs the admission process.
“If you want seat distribution on religious grounds, then stop taking government land and grants. Pay for both, and then you may change your university rules. Only then can religious reservation be justified,” the Chief Minister said.
The issue has since triggered a sharp political and social debate across Jammu and Kashmir over merit, religion, and institutional neutrality.
