Mainstream WeeklyShri Vaishno Devi Sangharsh Samiti, a conglomerate of Hindutva groups, has been successful in closing down the MBBS programme of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence based in Katra merely because 42 of the 50 students admitted to the programme based on their NEET performance happened to be Muslims. Although, the interference of Hindtuva ideology in more subtler forms has been happening in academic institutions since the Modi government came to power but this is by far the most crude example of it.
The argument of Hindtuva groups that it was the donations from Mata Vaishno Devi devotees which were used to set up the institute and hence it is a disrespect to the sentiments of the donors if a majority of Muslim students avail the benefit of this institute, is only partly true. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has clarified that the J&K government had allocated around 80 kanals of land to this institute and has given regular annual grants for its functioning. During the last year it got Rs. 24 crore and in the current year Rs. 28 crore have been allotted to this institute by the Union Territory government.
The National Medical Commission which had given approval to the institute to offer a MBBS programme merely four months back, conducted a surprise inspection at a 15 minutes notice on January 2 and decided to revoke its own approval more under the pressure of ongoing protests by Hindutva groups than the farcical report it has produced after inspection. The students were asked to return to their homes and will be adjusted in supernumerary seats elsewhere but the faculty members will have to start searching for jobs afresh.
As an afterthought the BJP leader of opposition in J&K Assembly Sunil Kumar Sharma said the devotees wanted their donations to be used for propagation of Sanatana Dharma. It would be interesting to actually enquire from the donors whether they would like their donations to support the medical institution which their children can attend to become doctors or set up a Vedic Research Centre or Gurukul according to claims made by Sharma.
The Hindutva organisations are setting a very dangerous precedent. They are saying Muslim students cannot study in an institution which has received part of the funding from Hindu devotees. Were these medicine students after becoming doctors going to treat only Muslim patients? The next thing these communal organisations might say is Hindu doctors will treat only Hindu patients and Muslims should look for Muslim doctors. If a situation arises that one of these Hindutva activists needed blood for himself or any of his family members admitted in a hospital, will he ensure that only blood from a Hindu is used for transfusion? Things can be stretched to ludicrous extents the way these Hindutva organisations have been appeased by the ruling dispensation.
And how can we segregate Hindu and Muslim donations? In a mixed society and a syncretic culture it will be a hair splitting exercise. Let us consider the case of the lone Hindu family who live in the Manjakote tehsil of Rajouri district of J&K. They run a general store and all their customers are Muslims because there are no other families in the neighbourhood. Will the income of this Hindu family from its Muslim clients be described as Hindu or Muslim?
Pilgrims going to the Vaishno Devi cave shrine themselves receive help from Muslim porters who provide all kinds of services from carrying people and luggage to providing ponies and palanquins, without whom the 13 km climb would prove to be an uphill task. Imagine if a demand similar to one being raised at present by Ganga Sabha in Haridwar to ban non-Hindus from the Kumbh area were to be enforced in Vaishno Devi trek area. The devotees will find it insurmountable without the help, both physical and moral, of Muslim porters.
Consider the psychological impact this incident is going to have on the 42 students who