MEERUT, July 19 -- Protests erupted at the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur on Saturday as students demonstrated against demolition orders issued for 38 buildings on the campus, while the political controversy intensified after local MP and Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Maulana Mohibullah Nadvi was denied entry into the university premises.

The university, regarded as the dream project of jailed senior SP leader Azam Khan, is managed by the Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust, of which Khan is the chairperson.

Students gathered on the campus demanding that authorities revoke the demolition order, saying the future of thousands of students was at stake.

"We are sitting here for the rights of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University because this is ab...