An investigative report by Tehelka SIT reveals how Pakistan’s two-decade old policy to admit Kashmiri students in its professional courses is being exploited by Hurriyat leaders.
For over two decades, the Pakistan government has been providing a special quota for the students of Jammu and Kashmir in all its professional courses, in especially medical and engineering colleges. Students from Jammu and Kashmir are broadly classified in two categories: [a] those applying for admission under foreign students seats through the ministry of education, Pakistan, and [ b ] the students applying for admission under the scholarship programme. The students applying through foreign students seats have to pay the normal fee like any other foreign student pays. But under the scholarship programme, the students are provided 100 per cent scholarship, free accommodation and per diem. The students, whose parents or close relatives have been killed by the security forces in Kashmir or have “suffered at the hands of Indian forces” are given preference for seats under the scholarship programme. Every year, around 50 students go to Pakistan under the scholarship programme for MBBS alone while a similar number of students get admission in other courses.
While there is a cut-off percentage for admission to various courses, the recommendation for the students under the scholarship programme is given by the Hurriyat leaders. Over the years, both factions of the separatist conglomerate Hurriyat Conference have been issuing recommendation letters to the students for admission in professional courses in Pakistan. And over the years, there have been allegations that some Hurriyat leaders demand money from the students before issuing them a recommendation letter, and that the basic criteria set by the Pakistan government is being flouted. There were allegations that even wards of some police officers have managed recommendation letters from the separatist leaders. As Kashmir has a very few professional colleges, the students would move to foreign countries for studying medicine – first to Russia, and now to Bangladesh and Pakistan. The courses in Pakistan are relatively cheap and valued more, and after Hurriyat recommendation letters become 100 per cent free for students going under the scholarship programme. Therefore, the number of students going to Pakistan has increased.
The National Investigation Agency [NIA] in a chargesheet filed in the terror funding case in 2018 had said that Pakistan is offering scholarship to Kashmiri students to prepare a generation which will be inclined towards Pakistan. Most of the youth on student visa in the neighbouring country were relatives of militants. “During the course of investigation, it was ascertained that students who were proceeding to Pakistan on student visas were either relatives of ex-militants who had indulged in various anti-national activities and had migrated to Pakistan or they were known to Hurriyat leaders”, it said. The probe agency also claimed that their visa applications were recommended to the Pakistan high commission in New Delhi by the various Hurriyat leaders.
