Jamia announces union polls, but protesters flag ambiguity in order
Jamia announces union polls, but protesters flag ambiguity in order
M.U.H
26/10/202612
NEW DELHI: After 14 days of hunger strike, protests, detentions and mounting pressure from across university campuses, Jamia Millia Islamia on Monday finally announced that its students’ union elections would be held 15 days after the approval of the union’s constitution.
The order, issued by the university’s Office of the Registrar on October 26, came just as the agitation was heading into its 15th day, following a night of marches, heightened security and growing concern over the health of students on hunger strike.
What began with one student, Jasim Khan, a master’s student who went on hunger strike demanding the restoration of student union elections, gradually grew into a collective agitation involving five students, including a woman student. The protest unfolded amid repeated restrictions, clashes, detentions and an unprecedented show of solidarity from students, former students and supporters beyond the campus.
The university, meanwhile, had shut parts of the campus, closed libraries and shifted classes online as tensions escalated. With police and Rapid Action Force personnel deployed in large numbers, the campus increasingly resembled a fortress, with security personnel at several points appearing to outnumber the protesting students.
The agitation took another turn when women students joined the protest in significant numbers, including amid concerns over restrictions and directions asking some hostel residents to vacate. On the 14th night, Jasim’s health deteriorated, and he was taken to hospital, intensifying concerns among protesters.
Sunday midnight, however, saw students continue their juloos marches at Gulistan-e-Ghalib. Protesters also alleged that food and water were being prevented from entering the campus. When Jasim returned from hospital at around 3.30 am, the administration’s decision was understood to have been conveyed to the protesting students as celebrations had begun on the campus.
The order on Monday also revoked suspension and show-cause notices issued to students during the protest and promised an inquiry into the conduct of security personnel. However, it required the protesting students to issue a public apology for alleged defamatory statements against the administration and remove related social media posts. The university directed that the protest be called off immediately.
The announcement comes after nearly two decades without a university-wide elected students’ union. Jamia’s last union election was held in 2005, and the elected body was dissolved on March 31, 2006, amid allegations of campus violence and disruption.
The question of elections had also reached the Delhi High Court. In 2012, a petition by student Hamidur Rehman sought directions to hold union polls. In December 2022, the court disposed of the petition after the university submitted that the union had been dissolved and that the question of holding elections did not arise. The order did not impose a blanket prohibition on future elections.
The agitation at Jamia also unfolded against the backdrop of a similar movement at Aligarh Muslim University, where the administration announced an election schedule on October 9, following a 19-day hunger strike by student Yasir Fahad. Jamia’s announcement came after 14 days of hunger strike and sustained mobilisation.
The movement had drawn support from university students across the country, political leaders and elected representatives, with several MPs writing to the vice-chancellor and MLAs visiting him. As the administration maintained that drafting a constitution required time, some students even produced an AI-generated draft constitution to underline their argument that the process need not be prolonged indefinitely.
Some protesters are, however, rejecting the order as ambiguous and insisting that their agitation would continue until their demands were addressed through a clear commitment, since the order does not mention when the approval would be granted.
