The Quasi-Official State of Apartheid in Today's India |
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Last week, the National Medical Commission (NMC) withdrew permission previously granted to the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence in Jammu, to admit students into a medical programme. The medical college has been at the center of protests led by Hindu right-wing groups who objected to the religious composition of the first batch of students. Reportedly, of the 50 students (who were admitted based on their NEET ranks) over 40 are Muslim. The college which has received significant grants-in-aid from the state government is built on land owned by the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi shrine and is reportedly also funded by donations from the shrine.
While the NMC has cited “severe findings about non-compliance with minimum standards”, Hindu right-wing groups have celebrated the closure of the college as the consequence of their protests. The mostly Muslim students stuck in the middle of this conflict have found themselves deprived of a college admission they gained after a highly competitive entrance test. College officials have meanwhile said that the NMC’s findings are not factually borne out. It is particularly telling that the NMC itself had granted permission to the college to operate barely four months ago, presumably after completing due diligence.
This conflict offers yet another example of a phenomenon that is becoming increasingly commonplace in India today – where dominant sentiments are appeased by weaponising and deploying seemingly neutral administrative provisions and institutions against Muslims. As in the case of “bulldozer justice”, we are reminded that the creation of apartheid-like conditions in India does not necessarily require the enactment of discriminatory laws. When state institutions participate in the appeasement of dominant sentiments, a quasi-official state of apartheid can be created without apartheid laws.
On the face of it, quasi-official apartheid appears like a contradiction in terms because apartheid usually refers to a legalised de jure system of discrimination enforced by the........