By Dr. Aijaz Ahmad Bhat

Every autumn, thousands of families in Jammu and Kashmir perform the same painful ritual. 

Suitcases fill with woolens, medicines, dried vegetables, prayer beads, and homemade food packed with care. Parents walk their children to buses, trains, and airports, then return to homes that suddenly feel empty. 

Education has demanded separation for far too long in Kashmir. Opportunity lived elsewhere, and families paid the emotional price.

The passage of the Private Universities Bill in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly changes that story in a profound way. 

This legislation opens the door to campuses, jobs, investment, and research. More importantly, it restores something many Kashmiri families have missed for decades: the chance to build a future without sending their children away.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah understood the depth of this crisis. Kashmir’s young people deserved more than speeches about potential. They needed institutions that treated their ambitions seriously. MLA Qaysar Lone pushed that vision into law with political clarity and persistence. Their effort addressed a truth every family in the valley already knew. 

Letter to Editor: J&K’s CUET Exit Raises the Bigger Question

J&K Falls Back On 10 2 Merit Amid Empty Classrooms  

A student from Lolab, Kupwara, Kulgam, or Bandipora deserves access to strong universities close to home. Education should strengthen a society rather than scatter it.

Families in Kashmir have spent years speaking softly about the experiences their children faced in distant cities. Students found themselves isolated in hostels where their customs invited suspicion. Ramzan became especially painful for many. 

Young men and women searched for Sehri meals before dawn and struggled to arrange Iftari after sunset. Some encountered hostility from administrators or ridicule from........

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