SRINAGAR, Jan 9: Peoples Democratic Party president, Mehbooba Mufti, today said that dividing Jammu and Kashmir on religious lines or granting separate statehood to Jammu would undermine the Muslim-majority region’s decision to join India and could strengthen the logic of the two-nation theory that its people had rejected.Speaking to reporters, Mufti said the people of Jammu and Kashmir, despite being a Muslim-majority region, had rejected the two-nation theory and chosen to accede to India.
“If Jammu and Kashmir continues to be divided on the basis of religion and Jammu is given separate statehood, it will prove that Jinnah was right,” she said, adding that such moves negate the decision taken by the leadership and people of the region at the time of accession.
Referring to the withdrawal of registration of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence (SMVDIME) by the NMC, Mufti said the issue went beyond a single institution. “This is not a question of one medical college. It will become a pattern. It is an experiment,” she said, warning that policies first tested in Jammu and Kashmir have often later been replicated in the rest of the country.
Mufti questioned the role of the Jammu and Kashmir government, alleging that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had signalled a day earlier that the Medical College should be closed and that the order was issued the following day. “Was it already discussed with the Chief Minister that he said something in the evening which exactly happened the next day?” she asked.
PDP leader stressed that the issue was not about adjusting the 50 affected medical students elsewhere, saying it was the government’s responsibility to do so as the students had qualified through the NEET examination and had not entered “through the back door or by corruption”.
Calling on the Chief Minister to reconsider the issue, Mufti said it was not limited to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University or one Medical College but could embolden communal forces nationwide
