A Muslim doctor from Jammu and Kashmir has claimed that he had to give up a Doctorate of National Board (DrNB) seat at a private hospital in Coimbatore after being asked to shave his beard to study at the super speciality institute.
The doctor, who requested anonymity for security reasons, had been allotted a seat in the nephrology department at Kovai Medical Centre and Hospital during the second round of the ongoing NEET Super Speciality (SS) counselling. According to him, when he visited the institute to confirm his admission, he was asked to sign a policy document that banned beards and was warned that refusal to comply would lead to denial of enrollment, as reported by Careers360.
As the beard is an essential part of his faith and religious identity, the doctor chose not to join the hospital and is now looking to secure admission in the third round of counselling.
“I was told that the institute has a dress code in place, which includes prohibition on beard. I explained that I was ready to follow the dress code, and even hide my beard with a mask, but it wasn’t acceptable to them. The institute director said it’s a corporate organisation and that the policy has been instituted by the chairman, who had studied medicine in the United States (US),” he tells the website.
He said he had not encountered such a restriction during his MBBS, MD, or senior residency years at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Srinagar. He also noted that had the policy been disclosed during counselling, he would not have applied to the institute.
“I humbly state that keeping a beard is an integral part of my Islamic faith, and I cannot be expected to compromise on this in a secular country like India, which guarantees freedom of religion under the Article 25 of the Constitution of India. Moreover, medical training and practice should be based on competence, ethics and patient care – not personal appearance that doesn’t hinder hygiene or safety,” read his complaint.
After the complaint was filed, the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) stepped in and directed the hospital to allow the candidate to join, provided he met all eligibility criteria.
However, the doctor, discouraged by the experience, requested NBEMS to permit him to participate in the next round of counselling. “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,” he said, stating that he would try his chances with other institutes or join counselling next year.
Responding to the news, Srinagar MP Aga Syed Ruhullag Mehdi stated that “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,” he added.
He also called on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to intervene in the matter.
 seat at a private hospital in Coimbatore after being asked to shave his beard to study at the super speciality institute.){kind=link}