Srinagar, India - Authorities in Indian
Kashmir have given the go-ahead for the establishment of an Islamic university of science and technology, the first of its kind in the restive Muslim-majority region, an official statement said.
"The university will be set up by Kashmir's Muslim wakf board," the statement said, referring to the government-backed board that manages all shrines and Islamic sites in Kashmir.
"The university will be a self-financing institution with no grant-in-aid provided by the government," the state government statement said on Tuesday.
Kashmir has four existing universities, one of them set up by a trust managing a revered Hindu shrine in the region's Jammu area.
The university is being established "to promote higher learning in Islamic, scientific and technical education," state Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed said after the provincial cabinet gave its approval for the venture.
Aside from regular studies, the university is expected to offer correspondence courses and research facilities.
"Significantly, the university would be open to students of all communities without any discrimination of religion, caste or creed," the statement said.
Education has been badly hit by a 16-year-old insurgency against Indian rule in the region, with many schools going up in flames during clashes between troops and Islamic rebels.