New Delhi, Oct. 26 -- Fresh protests erupted at Jamia Millia Islamia on Monday, with students refusing to end their nearly two-week-long agitation for the restoration of the students' union despite the university administration announcing that elections would be held within 15 days of the approval of the union's constitution. The protesters demanded a time-bound election process and a clear deadline for finalising the constitution, while scuffles broke out between students and paramilitary personnel on campus.
So many women students entered the campus through different gates earlier in the day, with some gathering outside Gate No. 7, the site of the ongoing protest. Police personnel detained several protesters and prevented students from entering the campus as security was tightened. Students raised slogans against the police and the university administration amid continuing tensions.
In an order dated October 26, Registrar Prof. Md. Mahtab Alam Rizvi said the competent authority had considered the demand letter submitted by students on hunger strike and their representatives. The university announced that Jamia Millia Islamia Students' Union (JMISU) elections would be held within 15 days of the approval of the union's constitution. The elections have not been held since 2006.
The order also revoked suspension and show-cause notices issued to students during the protest and announced a committee to inquire into the conduct of security personnel during the agitation. It further recorded the protesters' undertaking to issue a public apology at a press conference for statements, actions or social media posts against the administration deemed defamatory, and to remove such posts from social media platforms. The order said the protest should be called off immediately.
However, students maintained that the announcement did not address their central demand for a definite timeline for approving the constitution and appointing a chief election officer. The decision followed nearly five hours of negotiations between student representatives and university officials, after almost two weeks of protests and hunger strikes.
The agitation entered its 12th day on Monday, with two students continuing an indefinite hunger strike, according to the protesters. Four students had earlier joined the fast. Besides the restoration of elections, students have demanded the withdrawal of disciplinary action and an inquiry into alleged excesses by security personnel. Amid the standoff, the university shifted classes across courses to online mode and advised students to avoid visiting the campus. It also announced that university gates and libraries would remain closed until further notice. The developments came two days after a march by teaching and non-teaching staff from the M.A. Ansari Auditorium to the protest site at Gate No. 7 on October 24. In a separate statement, concerned faculty members alleged that staff had been misled about the purpose of the march, which they said had been called as a compulsory meeting on a weekly off. They alleged that the administration later portrayed it as a show of staff support against the protesting students.
The faculty members also alleged that students were manhandled and called for an impartial inquiry into an altercation involving a newly appointed assistant professor and a senior woman professor who had urged the administration to accept the students' demands. They expressed solidarity with the students' right to peaceful protest and urged the administration to engage with them in good faith.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.