Srinagar: Admissions in Bangladesh under South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) quota for MBBS course to select medical students from Kashmir Valley has come under question by Rights Groups with the list allegedly showing the names of students who were not recommended as meritorious students by India, activists said, even as a senior official of the Bangladesh High Commission rubbished the charge saying there is no anomaly in the process and merit was given top priority.
Several students recommended on merit by India were not chosen, according to documents available with CNS and alleged by activists. Activists alleged a scam in the selection process.
The Bangladesh High Commission in India denied the charges saying everything was done on the basis of merit and in a clear process.
According to information, the Bangladesh High Commissioner in New Delhi on Dec 18, 2015 sent a recommendation letter of 11 students (under No. Inf.Edu/5/2015-2016/MBBS/SAARC/570 Dated: 18th December 2015 from Kashmir) to be selected for MBBS under SAARC Quota and due to the existence of the bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh .
In the letter sent to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Bangladesh, Syed Mehreen, Muntha Wani, Mir Maliha Yousuf, Nuha Malik, Haidar Farooq Banday, Zoya Qureshi, Nafia Yousuf , Rabia Khan, Nasir Mehran Lone , Kaneez Fatima & Hazique Parvez were recommended in accordance with GPA of 10th and 12th standards and SAARC criteria .
According to documents available, the students were recommended by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president and MP Mehbooba Mufti , MP Tariq Hameed , MLA Basharat Bukhari , Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and central BJP minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and the recommended list was sent to the High Commissioner of Bangladesh in New Delhi. But the final list which was issued by Director General Health Science Bangladesh does not include all the names of students who were recommended in the letter sent on December 18. Instead the students listed were those recommended by Bangladeshi Ministers, alleged a human rights activist.
A Social activist Idrees-ul-Haq said: “I am myself surprised to see all this and don’t know how some students have managed to enter the final list when they were never recommended by any of the ministers of the GoI (Govt of India). To my utter surprise even some of the candidates have managed to get recommendations from Bangladeshi Minister. I am equally disturbed how can a Bangladesh based Central minister recommend a student of Kashmir for SAARC Quota in MBBS for Bangladesh as it snatches the career opportunity of Bangladesh students as well as deserving students of India who are deemed to get selected on merit,” Haq said.
“We have followed a process which is based on, Enamul Haque Chowdhury, Minister Press, Bangladesh High Commission said. The allegation is absolutely incorrect. Recommendations by Indian high ups are not everything, students are chosen based on their merit.”
“Everything is open in the selection process. Our foreign minister pass it to the health ministry in Bangladesh and they do the needful,” said Haque Chowdhury.
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