Two central universities for J&K

NEW DELHI: Faced with the prospect of a repeat of last summer���s protests over the Amarnath yatra land grant, the government has decided to set up two central universities in Jammu and Kashmir. The state government proposes to allocate a central university each to Jammu and Kashmir Valley. The Cabinet Secretary will be in the state on Friday to make the announcement. The decision to set up two universities in the state has been conveyed by the human resource development ministry to the Jammu and Kashmir government on September 18.

The decision, driven by the political considerations, is being touted as an exception to the norm of setting up one central university in each state. However, the central government is now likely to be approached by other states to make similar exceptions to address similar regional aspirations. Already, Uttarakhand has made a request for a central university status for the Kumaon University. In January this year, the HNB University in Garhwal was accorded the status of a central university.

The government���s decision to establish one central university had given rise to concerns that the state would once again be divided on regional lines. The Jammu & Kashmir government had insisted that the Centre reconsider its decision and set up two central universities. Chief minister Omar Abdullah and ministers from the state cabinet had met with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and asked that the state be granted two central universities. The Congress leadership from the state is also understood to have approached party president Sonia Gandhi and the prime minister to convey their assessment that setting up two central universities would be the prudent course of action.

In 2007, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had in his convocation address in Jammu announced a central university for the state. While Mr Singh had not specified a location for the university, claims were being made by both Jammu and Srinagar. However, competing demands and protests began when it was reported that while land had been identified in Samba district for setting up the campus, the state government had chosen to open a camp office of the proposed university in the Kashmir Valley. The warning signal for the state government came with the formation of a Central University Sangharsh Samiti (CUSS) on the lines of Amaranth Sangharsh Samiti.

The samiti made it clear that if their plea for a central university was to be ignored by the state government then they would be forced to launch an agitation similar to that over the Amarnath land issue.

Though the CUSS��� one-day strike call on August 10 evoked response only in select areas of Jammu, the state government was concerned about another season of protests on the streets of Jammu, more so because the agitation would not remain limited to students. The state���s Congress-NC administration were also worried that CUSS would give BJP another handle to build itself in the state like the Amarnath yatra land agitation.