Jammu- Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday downplayed the protest by university students in Jammu demanding the establishment of a National Law University, questioning the basis of the agitation.

Responding to queries from reporters in Samba, Omar Abdullah asked, “Which protest? Protest for what and why?” He said similar objections were not raised when premier institutions like the Indian Institute of Technology and the Indian Institute of Management were established in Jammu.

The Chief Minister said Kashmir did not protest when Jammu was allotted the IIT and IIM, nor did people in Jammu demand that one of those institutions be shifted to Kashmir. Selective protests over higher education institutions, he said, were unwarranted.

Omar Abdullah further said that during his tenure as Chief Minister, he had persuaded then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to establish Central Universities in both Jammu and Kashmir to ensure balanced regional representation in higher education.

He reiterated that decisions related to higher educational institutions should be viewed in a broader context of regional balance and long-term academic planning rather than through selective regional demands.