Proposed law university sparks Jammu vs Kashmir tug of war

SRINAGAR: A row over the proposed National Law University in J&K has widened political fault lines between the Union territory’s two regions, with politicians in Kashmir valley accusing Jammu-based groups of discrimination and Peoples Conference president Sajad Lone going so far as to call for a regional split.

The controversy erupted after Jammu High Court Bar Association and BJP functionaries demanded the NLU campus be set up in Jammu, instead of Budgam district in central Kashmir, where it is scheduled to begin operations this year.

Lone, the MLA for Handwara in north Kashmir, reacted sharply. “Maybe the time has come for an amicable divorce. This is not just about development. Jammu has become the proverbial stick to beat Kashmiris with,” he said Wednesday.

CM Omar Abdullah had rejected BJP’s demand, saying Jammu already hosts an IIT and an IIM. He said no questions of regional balance were raised when those institutions were established. Omar added it was premature to allege discrimination as no final decision on NLU’s location had been taken.

Jammu bar association initially pressed for NLU to be shifted to Jammu but modified its stand Wednesday, proposing three NLUs — one each in Jammu, Ladakh, and Kashmir. Law students from Jammu University warned of protests if NLU is not located in Jammu.

Former minister Sham Lal Sharma of BJP said Jammu had the right to raise the issue. “The CM should think beyond Kashmir and act as the CM of all of J&K,” he said, backing either a Jammu campus or separate NLUs for both regions.

In Kashmir valley, Lone questioned what he called Jammu’s “obsessive” opposition to projects in Kashmir. “We cannot have a region slandering Kashmiris non-stop and petitioning the rest of the country that only one region in J&K is with the country and the other is a terrorist region,” he said.

The NLU dispute gained momentum after National Medical Commission last week withdrew permission for Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence (SMVDIME), located near Katra in Jammu region. The move followed protests by BJP politicians and right-wing Hindu groups over admissions to the first batch, where 42 of 50 selected students were from Kashmir valley and Muslim.

Protesters alleged that an institute funded by Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board should admit only students who have faith in goddess Vaishno Devi. The commission cited lack of faculty and facilities, but Omar said the institute was closed on religious grounds. Celebrations in parts of Jammu after SMVDIME’s closure further fuelled demands to shift the law university south.