SRINAGAR: The People’s Conference President and MLA Handwara Sajad Gani Lone on Sunday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of attempting to “communalise medical sciences” amid a growing controversy over admissions at the Medical School of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University.
Addressing reporters, Lone said the political narrative emerging around the matter was an alarming attempt to inject communal considerations into one of the most rigorous and nationally regulated professional fields. He urged political leaders to maintain academic integrity and respect constitutional frameworks governing medical admissions.
He reminded that admissions to medical colleges are made strictly through the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, a centralised examination conducted across India. “The finest brains in the country sit that exam, and those who get selected work hard to become a doctor. And then these doctors serve people, treat them, perform surgeries,” he said.
Lone added that those who pursue further research devote their lives to saving society from life-threatening diseases. “They sit in labs experimenting all their lives,” he said, crediting decades of scientific work for technological advances such as MRI and CT scan.
He criticised what he called the trivialisation of a noble discipline, saying scientists who advanced modern medicine “will turn in their graves” to see political leaders drag the field into a communal debate.
“How I wish a basic level of IQ be made imperative and a prerequisite for being a part of public life,” he remarked, calling for more informed and responsible political discourse.
Lone said India should be striving to lead in medical innovation rather than becoming embroiled in divisive rhetoric. “We need to get the best brains and enable a culture of research and innovation. Medical science needs researchers, not religious zealots,” he said.
