Will the Vaishno Devi Medical College be shut down? Controversy intensifies over giving seats to Muslims, and the BJP also comes out in support.

The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence will be permanently closed even before its first session begins. Students who have been admitted to the first session will be allotted seats in other colleges within and outside the state by the National Medical Council.

These speculations gained momentum after the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) met with the Union Health Minister in New Delhi, as Leader of the Opposition Sunil Sharma also termed the establishment of the medical college by the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board as unnecessary.

Until now, only the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Sangharsh Samiti (struggle committee) had been criticizing the Shrine Board's move, advocating for the use of Hindu devotees' offerings to promote Hindu culture and civilization by establishing institutions like Gurukuls and Yoga centers. However, with the BJP also making similar demands, it is now being speculated that the medical college will be closed and the students transferred to other colleges.

Meeting with the Union Minister

According to BJP sources, during a recent meeting with Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda, the BJP delegation objected to the Shrine Board's entry into the field of modern education. Speaking to a TV channel in New Delhi after the meeting with Nadda, Sunil Sharma said that the BJP believes that the offerings of Hindu devotees should be used for the promotion and empowerment of Hindu culture, religion, and civilization.

He stated that using Hindu devotees' offerings for modern education is not appropriate. Therefore, it is better that such institutes are not established. Following Sunil Sharma's statement, it is believed that the central government will ask the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir and Chairman of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, Manoj Sinha, to take such a step and also instruct the National Medical Council to accommodate the students admitted to the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence in other colleges to resolve the current dispute.

"We have been saying from day one that running a university and a college is not the job of the Shrine Board. This Shrine Board was constituted to manage the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrimage and to strengthen Sanatan Dharma. Therefore, we said from the very beginning that we do not need a university or college run by the Shrine Board." If it is to be opened, then free education should be provided here to poor Hindu children. We want a Gurukul to be established here so that our children can gain knowledge of their culture, their language, and their civilisation. - Mahamandaleshwar Rameshwar Das Ji Maharaj