Jammu, Mar 27: Members of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), joined by several BJP MLAs, took out a rally in Jammu demanding a National Law University (NLU) in the region but were stopped by police from marching to the Civil Secretariat at the assembly.
The BJP and its youth wing BJYM have been accusing the ruling National Conference government of “dividing the Union territory on religious and regional lines” by announcing an NLU for Kashmir while denying one to Jammu.
The march was taken through the city under a ‘Secretariat Chalo’ call, and slogans such as ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’, ‘NLU for Jammu’, and ‘NC (National Conference) hai hai’ were raised.
BJP MLAs Sham Lal Sharma, Yudhvir Sethi, Arvind Gupta, Vikram Randhawa, Sunil Bhardwaj, Shagun Parihar and Divyani Rana among others joined the rally and sat on a dharna.
The police stopped the protesters from marching to the Civil Secretariat at the assembly. Heavy police deployment, including barricades, barbed wire and security vehicles, was in place.
Alleging police excesses, BJYM J&K president Arun Prabhat said, “We were not doing anything wrong and had called for a peaceful march. But thousands of police personnel were deployed to stop us from marching to the Secretariat. Despite this, protesters broke through barriers and reached near the Secretariat.”
He said this is just a trailer. “If you do not open an NLU in Jammu and revoke decisions like the alleged selling of 24,000 jobs, this struggle will turn into a movement.”
MLA Rana said the party was not opposed to an NLU in Kashmir but demanded equal rights for Jammu.
“If an NLU is established in Kashmir, Jammu also deserves one. We are not saying Kashmir should be deprived, but both must get equal opportunities,” she said, referring to an alleged resolution passed in October 2025 seeking an NLU for Kashmir.
MLA Ajay Gupta said Jammu has historically secured its rights through sustained struggle.
“Whether it was for the central university or AIIMS, Jammu has always had to fight for its due. The demand for an NLU has been ongoing for quite some time, and people will continue the agitation until it is achieved,” he said.
Gupta also alleged that the assembly did not allow debate on the issue.
MLA Sethi accused the government of attempting to create divisions. “We will continue our struggle to bring the university to Jammu.”
Sethi further claimed that a future BJP government would ensure equitable development.
