New Delhi, Oct. 28 -- The protest demanding restoration of the Jamia Millia Islamia Students' Union (JMISU) continued for the 17th day on Wednesday, with students refusing to call off their agitation despite the university's decision to hold elections within 15 days of the approval of the union's constitution.
Amid the ongoing standoff, university officials on Wednesday shared visuals of broken windows and alleged that students had forcibly entered parts of the campus, damaging surveillance cameras and other university property. The officials, however, did not provide any clarity on the action being taken in connection with the alleged damage. The protesting students have maintained that the administration must announce a definite date for the polls, which have not been held since 2006, and set a timeline for approving the union's constitution. The agitation continued despite the university issuing an order on Monday stating that students' union elections would be held within 15 days of the approval of the union's constitution. The order also revoked suspension and show-cause notices issued to students during the protest and provided for a committee to inquire into the conduct of security staff during the agitation.
However, the students said the decision fell short of their demands, questioning the absence of a deadline for approving the constitution. "Our first demand was that student union elections should be revived, and dates for polls be declared," Rehan Khan, one of the students on an indefinite hunger strike, had said on Monday. Four students have been on an indefinite hunger strike over the issue. The university's order also stated that the protesting students had agreed to issue a public apology at a press conference for defamatory statements, actions or social media posts against the administration during the agitation. It directed that such posts be taken down immediately and said the protest would be called off following the issuance of the order. On Monday, scuffles broke out between protesting students and paramilitary personnel as security was tightened on campus. Police personnel did not allow the students, who raised slogans against the administration, to enter the university after classes across all courses were shifted online amid tensions.
At a press conference organised by the Jamia Collective at Syeda Manzil in Jamia Nagar on Monday, alumni, members of the university's founding families, artists, lawyers and student representatives extended solidarity with the protesters and called for the restoration of democratic spaces on campus. Representatives of NSUI, AISF, SFI, AIDSO, AISA and DISHA highlighted the students' demands and stressed the need for meaningful dialogue between the administration and the protesters. This came a day after an FIR was registered against Congress MPs Imran Masood and Imran Pratapgarhi, along with others, on a complaint by university Registrar Md Mahtab Alam Rizvi. The complaint alleged that Pratapgarhi entered the campus on October 21 after breaking the lock of Gate No. 4A, while Masood entered on October 23 by scaling a boundary wall near Gafoor Nagar with the help of a ladder. The FIR, registered at Jamia Nagar police station on October 25, invokes relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to criminal trespass, wrongful restraint, voluntarily causing hurt, mischief, criminal intimidation, criminal conspiracy and common intention. Provisions of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984, and the Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, 2007, have also been invoked. The university had earlier announced the formation of a committee to draft the JMISU constitution and said disciplinary action initiated against students over protest-related issues would be reviewed.
It shifted classes across all courses to online mode on October 24, citing concerns over students' safety and security amid escalating tensions at the protest site.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.