Omar Abdullah said the law university in Budgam was temporary and that a permanent location of the campus would be finalised later. (File Photo)
Marking yet another political controversy over the establishment of a higher institute of learning after the Shri Mata Vaishnodevi Institute of Medical Excellence, the BJP’s youth wing Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha has decided to gherao the civil secretariat on March 27 to push for a National Law University in Jammu.
The BJYM has announced a “secretariat chalo” march on March 27, when the J&K Legislative Assembly reconvenes for the second half of the Budget Session after a month’s gap.
BJP’s J&K president Arun Prabhat criticised the Omar Abdullah government for “continued neglect and regional discrimination” of Jammu, accusing the dispensation of remaining silent even in light of student protests.
“The denial of NLU in Jammu reflects nefarious designs to sideline the region’s demands, deprive its youth of quality legal education and opportunities,” he claimed.
The demand for a national law school in Jammu gained momentum after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s announcement of a similar law university in Budgam’s Ompora from April. Abdullah, while responding to a resolution moved by Congress’ Nizamuddin Bhat last October, said the one in Budgam was temporary and that a permanent location of the campus would be finalised later.
Meanwhile, protests for a law school have intensified over the last few months.
Demanding equitable opportunities for both Jammu and Kashmir, BJP’s Jammu West MLA Arvind Gupta said that while an NLU in Kashmir was a welcome step, its absence in the Jammu region would create a “geographical, educational, and developmental imbalance”.
Story continues below this ad
On the opening day of the current Budget Session last month, BJP MLAs displayed placards and raised slogans supporting students’ demand for an NLU in Jammu.
On his part, Abdullah has maintained that the location of the proposed National Law University (NLU) is undecided, asking for the issue “not to be politicised”.
“When Jammu got IIT and the IIM, what did Kashmir get at that time? Why did you people not talk about equality then, saying one should be opened in Jammu and the other in Kashmir?” he asked, without specifically naming whom he was referring to.
However, political observers believe the NLU issue could snowball into a new flashpoint after the row over the admission of Kashmiri Muslim students into an MBBS course run by Shri Mata Vaishnodevi Institute of Medical Excellence. In the aftermath, the National Medical Commission—India’s apex medical education regulator—withdrew the Letter of Permission (LoP) it had issued.
Story continues below this ad
Meanwhile, the demand has also triggered a backlash, with J&K National Panthers Party (India) president and former minister Harsh Dev Singh accusing the BJP of misleading people over the law university. He pointed out that establishing an NLU was provided for in the J&K National University Act passed by the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly in 2018—when a PDP-BJP coalition was in power in the state.
“The BJP was in power at the Centre as well at that time. If it wanted an NLU in Jammu, it should have specified its location in the Act itself. Not only this, when Abdullah, in response to Nizamuddin Bhat’s resolution, stated in the Legislative Assembly that the NLU will function in Budgam, none of the 29 BJP MLAs present objected,” he said, adding that the only amendment motion then was moved by National Conference’s Hilal Akbar Lone, who wanted it in his Sonawari constituency in Bandipore.
Political observers see this as the BJP’s attempt to project itself as the champion of Jammu’s people. But several insiders admit it was an oversight on the party’s part not to provide for two NLUs in the 2018 Act.
