Jammu, Jan 7 (AHN) The decision of the National Medical Commission (NMC) to withdraw the permission to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence (SMVDIME) for starting the MBBS course has stirred the Hornet’s nest in political and public circles of Jammu and Kashmir.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has lashed out at the Sanghrash Samiti for starting an agitation against the admission of non-Hindu candidates to the medical college for the MBBS course.

“They were selected on merit and not through any favour. The Sangharsh Samiti is following a dangerous course. If Jammu is separated from J&K, then the people here will suffer the same fate Ladakh is facing after getting separated from J&K,” Omar Abdullah told the media while reacting to the protests by the right-wing activities against admission of non-Hindus to the medical college.

While revoking the permission to SMVDIME, the NMC has said that the latest inspection of the college has revealed insufficient faculty and infrastructure.

The NMC has directed that the students admitted for the MBBS course in this college must be adjusted in other medical colleges.

Thirteen Muslims and one Sikh candidate had secured admission for the MBBS course, and this prompted the right-wing Sangharsh Samiti to launch an agitation.

CM Omar Abdullah has repeatedly said that SMVDIME is not a minority institution, and this college is receiving grants from the J&K government.

Ironically, the Sangharsh Samiti had demanded either the expulsion of non-Hindu candidates or the revocation of permission to the college to start the MBBS course.

The net result of the agitation and the decision by the NMC has been that the college will not start the MBBS Course while protecting the right of the selected candidates to get admission in other medical colleges.

The loss of recognition to SMVDIME is being viewed by the common citizen as a loss to the growth of the medical profession in the union territory.

“How can the de-recognition of the college be seen as a victory for anybody? It defies logic. We can’t have doctors selected on the basis of religion by ignoring the overall merit of the candidates. It is against the growth of the medical profession in J&K,” said Girdhari Lal Daftari, a retired government officer here.

The people of the Valley are already angry over the decision because it undermines the chances of the meritorious candidates from the majority Muslim community to secure admission if the same is done purely on the basis of religion.