Dr. Nisar ul Hassan, a former Assistant Professor of Medicine at Srinagar’s Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Hospital, has once again came under the scanner after his name emerged in the Faridabad terror conspiracy linked to an inter-state "white-collar" Jaish-e-Mohammed module connected to the Red Fort blast case.
He was initially removed from the government service in November 2023 under Article 311(2)(c) for "anti-national credentials," Dr. Nisar has long been a polarizing figure, both for his medical career and his alleged separatist-aligned politics. The Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor had described him as a "ticking time bomb."
A native of Achabal village in Sopore, Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir. Dr. Nisar completed his MBBS from Government Medical College, Srinagar in 1991 and pursued his MD in General Medicine at Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in 2001.
After completing his MBBS, he joined as a house surgeon in the department of medicine at SMHS Hospital for six months before moving to the district hospital in Sopore. He later became a junior resident at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Srinagar.
Dr. Nisar was also selected for a 'clinic observership' in England, where he worked for four months in various hospitals before returning to join government service at a hospital in Bandipora. He has been associated with Srinagar's SMHS Hospital since 1997.
As the "self-styled president" of the Doctors Association of Kashmir (DAK) for eight years, Dr. Nisar's years in government service were punctuated by confrontations with successive administrations. His sharp public statements and activism repeatedly brought him under the radar of security agencies.
He called a strike after the spurious drugs scandal in Jammu & Kashmir, which had triggered widespread outrage after reports that substandard medicines had led to patient deaths. The move gained support from separatist groups such as the Hurriyat Conference.
The Omar Abdullah government suspended him for allegedly instigating trouble and making seditious statements. He reportedly urged government employees to boycott election duty, stop paying taxes, and "strengthen institutions of freedom."
Security agencies kept him under watch, but successive elected governments, first the NC-Congress and later the PDP-BJP coalition did not pursue action beyond continuing his suspension.
After remaining suspended for four years, he was reinstated during Governor's Rule.
Between 2018 and 2023, Dr. Nisar maintained a low profile, limiting his public remarks to health-related issues. However, his past statements and alleged separatist inclinations resurfaced in 2023, prompting his dismissal from service.
In November 2023, while working as an assistant professor in the medicine department at SMHS Hospital, the administration invoked Article 311 of the Constitution to dismiss him without inquiry.
"The Lieutenant Governor is satisfied after considering the facts and circumstances of the case and on the basis of the information available, that the activities of Dr Nisar-ul-Hassan, Assistant Professor (Medicine), SMHS Hospital, Srinagar, are such as to warrant his dismissal from service," the administration stated in the order.
Security and intelligence agencies had submitted an assessment report stating that Hassan was working on the instructions of Pakistan-based secessionists and that he was the "chief executive officer" of the secessionism project, as per The Print.
"From the activities and statements issued by Hassan, it is unflinchingly established that he has been a revered agent of a Pakistan-sponsored separatist-terrorist network in J&K to inspire and radicalize youth into terrorism, stone-pelting and separatism. Besides, he has acted as a rank provocateur of the general public, including employees, to nurture, promote and foment separatism within the system," the assessment report said, according to sources privy to it.
According to the faculty list on the Al-Falah Medical College website, Hassan was a regularized employee there, working as a professor in the general medicine department.
Investigators are now probing Dr. Nisar's professional association with Dr. Mohammad Umar Nabi, the alleged mastermind of the Red Fort blast conspiracy. Umar Nabi worked under Dr. Nisar for over a year at Al Falah University. Agencies are examining whether this period of association has any bearing on the larger terror network being uncovered.
The Jammu & Kashmir Police this month busted an alleged terror module of Jaish-e-Mohammad, arresting doctors that are employed at Al-Falah medical college for alleged involvement in this "white-terror module."
In a telephonic conversation with India Today, Dr. Nisar's wife, Dr. Suraiya, described the relationship between the two doctors as strained. She said Dr. Nisar was unhappy with Umar Nabi's frequent absences and his failure to attend to patients or teach students. According to her, this friction eventually led to the junior doctor being shifted to another ward.
She also rejected reports of her husband absconding, claiming he has been "formally detained" by the NIA for questioning, along with several students and faculty members of Al Falah University.
(Rh/VK/MSM)