'Discomfort with Muslim identity': J-K MP seeks Tamil Nadu CM's intervention in beard row

The member of parliament, Lok Sabha and former Jammu and Kashmir state minister Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi has urged chief minister of Tamil Nadu MK Stalin to intervene, after a muslim doctor from J-K had to forgo his seat at Kovai Medical Centre and Hospital (KMCH) Coimbatore, after he was told he has to shave his beard while studying the speciality institute.

The J-K minister posted on the official X account: “A Kashmiri Muslim doctor was denied his place, not for lack of merit, but for his beard. This is deep-rooted discomfort with the visible Muslim identity. It tells us you can be Muslim, but only if we can’t see it. Urge @MKStalin to kindly intervene.”

While talking to Careers360, the student said he was allotted a seat at the KMCH’s nephrology department in the second round of NEET SS 2025 counselling.

NEET SS student taken aback by beard rule

NEET SS aspirant said he went to the institute to confirm his admission, and he was asked to sign a policy document stating facial hair rules, and was also threatened with admission denial if he fails to remove his beard. The student alleged a lack of religious freedom at the institute over the beard policy. The student said he considers his beard as an integral part of his religious faith and therefore, he didn’t take admission at the KMCH, and is seeking enrollment in the third round of NEET SS counselling 2025.

Following this, the student had filed a complaint to the Post Graduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB) of the National Medical Commission (NMC), the medical education regulator, arguing the institute's facial hair policy is a violation of the constitutional principle of religious freedom.

Also read Shattered dreams, hostile environment: Muslim women students dropping out of college, says report

NBE directed KMCH to admit student

After the student’s complaint, the National Board of Examination in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) intervened and directed KMCH to admit the student, ‘subject to fulfilment of eligibility criteria.’ However, the student had asked the board to allow him to participate in the subsequent round of admissions, as he no longer wanted to study at the institution. He said: “I no longer want to study at the institute, as they may cause trouble for the next three years. There's no point in litigation either, as the chairman is a prominent person and I would get stressed.”

When Careers360 contacted the office of chairman Nalla G Palaniswami, they directed to contact KMCH’s medical director TP Kalaniti, who asserted that the student wasn’t denied admission due to the beard policy but non-payment of the admission fee. He said the student can still come and join the institute.

Furthermore, Kalaniti said the doctors taking admission at the hospital need to adhere to its policies, which don't include removing of beard, but rather want it to be trimmed. He added that the rule applies to students belonging to all religions.