Press "Enter" to skip to content

Over 10 universities in Jammu and Kashmir, no Dogra Vice Chancellor

Despite the fact that there are over 10 universities in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, there is not even a single Dogra Vice Chancellor (VC) that has created discontentment among the people of Jammu.

The clamor for Dogra VCs was now growing among people of Jammu who claim that discrimination with them has not ended despite abrogation of contentious Article 370 in J&K in 2019. Most of the new Vice Chancellors in Jammu region are non-local and have been appointed in recent times.

While universities in Kashmir have local VCs, same is not true for Jammu region where anger over appointment of non-local VCs is not new. The perceived discrimination against Dogras has forced them to protest for a local VC many times even in the past.

Dogras are an ethnic group living in parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab.

All universities in Jammu region including University of Jammu, Cluster University of Jammu, Central University of Jammu, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) Jammu and Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University (BGSBU) Rajouri have non Dogra VCs.

VC of University of Jammu is Prof Manoj Kumar Dhar whereas Central University of Jammu has Prof Ashok Aima as its VC.

On the other hand SKUAST, Jammu appointed Dr JP Sharma as VC in June last year and is a non-local. Prof Bechan Lal was appointed as VC of the Cluster University of Jammu in January this year whereas Prof Akbar Masood who is also a non-local was appointed as VC of BGSBU.