Many Indian students plan to migrate abroad for their higher education and if you are also one of them then keep Pakistan out of your list. This is something that has been advised by the University Grant Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). In their new advisory, they guided the Indian students to avoid going to Pakistan for their further studies.
According to this advisory, if any student migrates to obtain any degree in Pakistan it won’t be considered valid in India. Nor will this degree be considered valid to get a job in India as per the eligibility criteria. Before this, the government of India also cautioned those who are pursuing higher education in China.
At this point, every individual must be in a dilemma what is the reason for derecognizing the degrees obtained from Pakistan and China? What is the percentage of students currently pursuing their degrees in Pakistan and China? How this ban can affect the life of Kashmiri students?
Below mentioned points will answer all your questions:
• A new advisory was issued on 23rd April by the regulators of higher education in India, UGC and AICTE in which they advised Indian students not to take admission in any educational institute from Pakistan.
• In their joint advisory, they also said that any degree obtained from Pakistan won’t be considered valid in India. And even this degree won’t be eligible to get a job in India.
• This rule has been implemented for all Indian students and even the one’s living abroad.
• The advisory states that the migrants and their children who have already completed their respective degrees in Pakistan and have been granted citizenship by India. They can only seek a job in India after security clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• The second advisory which was issued by UGC and AICTE was about pursuing education in the neighboring country China.
This decision will definitely affect the Kashmiri students who are pursuing a degree in Pakistan. The fact of the matter is, most of the Indian students who pursue their degrees from Pakistan are from Kashmir.
• Although, the exact figures of Indian students in Pakistan are not officially known. But the figures are estimated to range from 200 to 1000.
• In 2020, media reports estimated that more than 200 students are studying in Pakistan. Out of which most belong to Jammu and Kashmir.
• A report says, according to the Founder and President of J&K Student Association, Mr. Nasir Khomeini 1000 Kashmiri students in Pakistan have migrated for Medical and engineering studies.
Also, a warning was issued in the year 2020 to not study in POK. This warning was issued by the Medical Council of India (MCI) for the students of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. They were advised not to pursue a medical course from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. They said in their advisory that the entire region of Jammu and Kashmir is part of India, but the institutions located in POK are not recognized under the Indian Medical Council Act 1956. Due to that, the degrees obtained there are not valid in India.
The reason why students migrate to Pakistan is due to the hidden agenda of Pakistan. In the last few years, Pakistan has offered 1600 scholarships to Kashmiri students in its colleges. This created a fear in the mind of security agencies that Pakistan could easily radicalize the Indian students. There is a 6% reservation for the Kashmiri students in the POK colleges as well as in the Pakistani Colleges.
This creates the connection between education and terror in Pakistan. Last year in December, the Jammu and Kashmir police busted a racket run by separatists in Kashmir in the name of admission to Pakistan. According to the police, the various separatists from Kashmir sold MBBS in Pakistan to Kashmiri students. They even gave money received from them to the terrorist to create unrest in the valley.
The police also quoted that, 8 other people including a Hurriyat Conference leader were involved in this case. They are accused of selling MBBS and other courses seats to the Kashmiri students in Pakistan. They are even using that money to spread separatism in the valley and help terrorists.
Last year in August 2021, the J&K police also arrested 4 people for buying medical seats in Pakistan for J&K students through the Hurriyat and Teter funding. Then in 2018, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in its charge sheet in the terror funding case mentioned how the separatist leaders in Kashmir begged for MBBS seats for their wards to remain loyal to Pakistan.
Before the advisory not to study in Pakistan, the government even warned the students not to study in China. The external affairs minister S Jaishankar had discussed with the Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi about the return of Indian students to Chinese universities. Then later in the advisory, it was appealed to the students not to go to China for studies. As they have cancelled the recognition of all online degrees from China. Due to China’s strict covid restrictions, they even suspended all visas from November 2020. These restrictions have not been relaxed so far.
Around 20,000 students are studying medicine in Chinese colleges and as the universities are closing the students have returned. Earlier, the Chinese officials also said that courses would be conducted online. But the UGC clarified that all online courses obtained from China will not be recognized in the country if permission is not taken from them. This has feared thousands of Indian students.
The government of India has also quoted some other reasons like:
• The Ukraine students trapped during the war were brought back by the government. Their studies are being affected due to all this.
• The fall of Imran’s government in Pakistan, and the unstable and deteriorating economic condition are other reasons.