The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership in Jammu and Kashmir was left red-faced after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah questioned their stance on the first admissions to the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence (SMVDIME) on Monday. Omar also made it clear that any move to grant MBBS seats without merit would require the approval of the Supreme Court.
The SMVDIME was granted permission to admit 50 MBBS seats this year by the National Medical Commission (NMC) on September 8, 2025. However, admissions given to 42 students from a particular community in the maiden batch for the 2025-26 academic year have sparked a controversy, with right-wing Hindu groups questioning the process, and demanding “minority institution” status for the newly-established institute.
The issue hogged headlines after a delegation of BJP MLAs led by the leader of opposition in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, Sunil Sharma, met Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday and demanded cancellation of the admission list and reservation of seats for only those students who have faith in Mata Vaishno Devi.
Without mincing any words, Omar chose to hit back. “The Constitution has a word, ‘secular’, and if they (BJP) do not want to keep the country secular, they should first remove the word”.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of an official function of the e-auction of seven limestone blocks in Anantnag, Rajouri and Poonch districts, Abdullah said, “Some people do not seem to like merit-based admissions. If you want admissions without merit, take permission from the Supreme Court because, as far as I know, you cannot give admission without merit.
“There is a demand that admissions be given based on religion, by keeping merit aside, which is not permissible according to the Constitution,” Abdullah said.
If tomorrow the Government starts taking decisions based only on religion, what will happen to social welfare schemes, ration distribution, etc, Abdullah asked.
“Will police perform their duty on the basis of religion,” the chief minister asked. “Our constitution has the word ‘secular’. If you do not want to keep this country secular, remove that word,” he said. Abdullah also advised LoP Sunil Sharma to go through the Act passed by the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, which is there on record.
“Being the LoP, he (Shrama) can check whether it is written that seats will be distributed based on religion. It talks about the distribution of seats on the basis of merit. What is the fault of those who secured seats based on merit,” Abdullah said, as he asked students to work hard to clear the entrance examination.
“When the Assembly passed the Bill for the establishment of the Mata Vaishno Devi University, where was it written that students from a particular religion would be kept outside its purview?
At that time, it was said that admissions would not be given based on religion but only based on merit,” the chief minister said.