SRINAGAR: A Muslim doctor from Jammu and Kashmir has alleged that he was compelled to forgo his super-speciality medical seat at a private hospital in Tamil Nadu after being told he would need to shave his beard to pursue studies there, an incident that has sparked outrage and calls for intervention from student bodies.
The doctor, who requested anonymity, had been allotted a seat in nephrology at Coimbatore’s Kovai Medical Centre and Hospital (KMCH) through the second round of NEET Super Speciality (SS) counselling conducted by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS). However, upon visiting the institute to confirm admission, he claimed he was asked to sign a policy document that bars male scholars from keeping a beard, failing which he would be denied enrollment.
“I was informed that KMCH follows a strict dress code, which includes a no-beard policy. I tried to reason with them and even offered to wear a mask to cover it, but they said the chairman has made the rule and it won’t be relaxed,” the doctor told Careers360. “This is deeply disappointing for someone who sees the beard as integral to his faith.”
He further stated that the hospital authorities insisted that the rule was non-negotiable and framed under the hospital’s corporate standards, citing the chairman’s medical education in the United States as the inspiration behind the policy. Having completed his MBBS, MD, and senior residency at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Srinagar without ever facing such a requirement, the doctor said he was shocked by the demand and decided not to join the hospital.
He has now approached NBEMS with a request to be allowed to participate in the upcoming round of counselling and to consider refunding his Rs 2 lakh security deposit. A formal complaint has also been filed with the Post Graduate Medical Education Board of the National Medical Commission (NMC), arguing that the hospital’s policy violates the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom under Article 25.
In response, NBEMS has directed KMCH to allow the candidate’s admission “subject to fulfilment of eligibility criteria”. However, the doctor said he has no interest in pursuing the seat any further. “I don’t want to go back to an institute that will police my identity. There’s no point in litigation—just more mental stress,” he added.
KMCH, when contacted, denied that admission had been refused, but maintained that all postgraduate scholars are expected to adhere to institutional dress codes as part of hospital policy.
The incident has drawn strong condemnation from the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association (JKSA), which has written to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin seeking his personal intervention.
Nasir Khuehami, the national convenor of the Association, said the imposition of a no-beard policy amounts to religious discrimination and exclusion. “This is not just about one doctor—it’s about the larger message it sends to students from minority communities across India,” he said.
In the letter to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, JKSA described the hospital’s stand as unconstitutional and harmful to India’s values of secularism and pluralism. “Medical education should rest on competence and ethics, not personal appearance, especially when it doesn’t compromise hygiene or safety,” the letter stated. “Tamil Nadu has always stood for inclusive governance—this incident is at odds with that tradition.”
Khuehami emphasised that forcing a doctor to remove his beard—an article of religious faith—was “not only regressive but unconstitutional.” He urged the state government to issue advisories to educational and healthcare institutions against enforcing discriminatory grooming policies.
The JKSA also pointed out the lack of transparency in the hospital’s policy during the counselling process, which it said placed candidates at a disadvantage. “He would not have applied had he known such a clause existed,” the letter noted.
