Srinagar, August 23, 2025 : Opposition parties in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday strongly criticised the government’s decision to take over the management of 215 schools affiliated with the banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), calling it arbitrary and detrimental to students’ futures.
Peoples Conference chief Sajad Lone accused the government of “shamelessness and servility.” In a post on X, he wrote:
“215 schools forcibly taken over by the J&K Government. Shame and shamelessness have assumed new meanings. They are setting new standards in servility.”
He alleged that the elected government is an “equal partner” in acts like employee terminations and other controversial measures, dubbing it the “A team” of national parties.
PDP leader Iltija Mufti said the move was consistent with the National Conference’s “historic hostility” towards JeI.
“Every time NC got a brute majority, their first target has always been the Jamaat — whether in 1977 or now. By jeopardising the future of thousands of students, they’ve taken it too far,” she wrote.
She also criticised Education Minister Sakina Itoo’s clarification that local higher secondary principals would temporarily manage the schools, calling it a “hazy, illogical U-turn that only worsens the crisis.”
PDP leader Waheed Para, MLA Pulwama, argued that JeI’s participation in the 2024 elections was a landmark step towards democratic reintegration.
“What force could not accomplish, the democratic process achieved — Jamaat leaders and members contested polls, a major success post-2019 abrogation of Article 370,” he said.
He warned that moves like book bans and school takeovers are “knee-jerk reactions that suppress reintegration efforts and close doors for those seeking to move beyond decades of turmoil.”
Para urged the Centre to adopt a more constructive approach, saying: “The government must provide space, uphold constitutional guarantees, and nurture democracy in J&K — the only weapon yet to be fully tested here.”
