Abstract
In Jammu and Kashmir, the participation of Muslims in education in general, and in higher education in particular, remains low in comparison to that of their Hindu counterparts, even in the Kashmir valley, where Muslims constitute about 95% of the population. This is attributable to the tradition of higher education and white collar occupation among the Hindus and the kingly patronage they enjoyed for over two hundred years before the coming of independence and democracy.
While in the Kashmir Valley, there is mainly one caste group among Hindus, i.e., Brahmins, in the Jammu region, Hindus exhibit an elaborate caste system and the scene of higher education is dominated disproportionately by upper caste Hindus. Moreover, the beneficiaries of free higher education in the State are mainly urbanités who form a very a small proportion of the population compared to the population inhabiting rural areas.
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