Farooq Brazloo
Srinagar, January 14, 2026 – In the frosty winter air of Jammu and Kashmir, a heated debate is brewing over where to plant the flag for the union territory’s first National Law University (NLU). What should be a straightforward step toward bolstering legal education has morphed into a proxy battle for regional pride, with politicians from Jammu demanding the institution be built on their turf, while Chief Minister Omar Abdullah pushes back, insisting no final call has been made. As the legislative assembly gears up to debate the proposal, the row underscores deeper fissures in a region still grappling with post-Article 370 tensions.
The NLU, first floated back in 2018 with a modest ₹50 crore budget allocation, was meant to elevate J&K’s higher education game, putting it on par with states boasting prestigious law schools like NLSIU in Bengaluru or NALSAR in Hyderabad. Last October, during a bypoll campaign in Budgam, Abdullah announced it would kick off operations from a temporary campus in Ompora, Budgam district, come April 2026. “This will be a game-changer for our youth,” he said at the time, framing it as a win for central Kashmir. But that declaration, made amid election fervor, has since ignited a firestorm.
Jammu’s advocates aren’t buying it. BJP legislator R.S. Pathania from Udhampur East has been vocal, arguing Jammu’s superior connectivity and law-and-order stability make it the “ideal spot.” In a fiery assembly speech last week, Pathania declared, “The NLU should open in Jammu and not in Kashmir. It’s a national institute, and Jammu has better roads, airports, and climate – why sideline us?” His words echo a broader grievance: Jammu, with its six universities including the University of Jammu and the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), feels shortchanged despite hosting heavyweights like the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). Protests have spilled onto the streets, with law students from Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University chanting slogans and waving placards. One student, speaking anonymously to avoid backlash, told me, “We’ve got the talent here in Jammu, but all the new goodies go north. This isn’t about law books; it’s about fairness.”
The Jammu & Kashmir High Court Bar Association has piled on, penning a letter to Abdullah urging the NLU’s main campus be shifted to Jammu. Citing “regional balance” after J&K’s reorganization into a union territory, the association’s president Vikram Sharma wrote, “Establishing it in Kashmir would perpetuate imbalances. Jammu deserves this to foster legal talent across divisions.” Even non-BJP voices like Sajad Lone, a former minister, have chimed in, pressing Abdullah to honor pre-2019 commitments that hinted at a Jammu location. Lone tweeted recently, “Budgam was a poll gimmick. Stick to the original plan or risk alienating half the territory.”
Abdullah, for his part, has fired back with pointed questions about past precedents. At a press meet in Jammu on January 12, he retorted, “When IIT and IIM were sanctioned for Jammu, did Kashmir erupt in protests? Where was this talk of equality then?” He emphasized that no site is set in stone yet, adding, “Leave this to us. We’ll decide based on what’s best for all of J&K.” His stance has found support in Kashmir, where locals see the NLU as a much-needed boost. A Srinagar-based educator, who requested anonymity, pointed out the numbers: Kashmir division, home to 55% of J&K’s population per the 2011 census, hosts just four universities – University of Kashmir, Sher-i-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST-Kashmir), Islamic University of Science and Technology, and Central University of Kashmir. Jammu, with 45% of the populace, boasts six, including SKUAST-Jammu, Central University of Jammu, and Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University in Rajouri.
Yet, beneath the stats lurks a uglier undercurrent. Whispers of communal undertones have surfaced, especially after the recent shutdown of Mata Vaishno Devi Medical College in Reasi amid protests over Muslim student admissions. Critics accuse some Jammu factions of stoking Hindu-majority sentiments to frame the NLU as a “Kashmir grab.” One veteran journalist in Jammu confided, “It’s not just about bricks and mortar; it’s code for ‘us versus them.’ We’ve seen this play out before with AIIMS locations – endless bickering that delays everything.”
Education experts offer a middle path. Renowned scholar Dr. Abdul Wahid, formerly with the University of Kashmir, suggests a spot like Kulgam in south Kashmir, straddling the Pir Panjal range. “It’s got government land aplenty, and it’s a stone’s throw from Ramban, Rajouri, and Poonch in Jammu division,” he explained in an interview. “Think of it like the National Law University in Delhi – accessible, neutral, and focused on merit, not maps.” Similar models have worked elsewhere: Odisha’s NLU in Cuttack bridges urban-rural divides, while Punjab’s in Mohali draws talent from across borders without regional squabbles.
As the assembly session looms in February, the stakes couldn’t be higher. History is littered with cautionary tales – from the 2008 Amarnath land row that toppled a government to the 2016 Burhan Wani unrest that scarred a generation. If the NLU becomes another flashpoint, it risks breeding resentment rather than lawyers. Residents across the Pir Panjal echo a simple plea: Let education unite, not divide. After all, in a place where justice has often been elusive, the last thing needed is a law school mired in controversy.
