A hunger strike over the restoration of student union elections at Jamia Millia Islamia escalated on Saturday after protesters alleged that security personnel forcibly removed students from the campus before dawn, while the university suspended and rusticated some participants and police were deployed after a later confrontation at the main gate.
Five students began an indefinite hunger strike at the university’s Ghalib Lawn on October 12, demanding the restoration of elections to the students’ union. The protesters were identified as Mohammad Jasim Khan, a postgraduate student of International Studies; Ebin Basil, a BA LLB student at the Faculty of Law; Rehan Haider, an MA Social Work student; Rehan Khan, a BA Geography student; and Faizan Ali Khan, a first-year MA Gender Studies student.
According to the students, security personnel switched off the lights at about 5.30am on Saturday, manhandled protesters and dragged them out of the campus before handing them over to Delhi Police. The students were subsequently released. The allegations could not be independently established from the material available in the report.
The university later took disciplinary action against some protesters. Ebin was rusticated for one academic year, while Jasim was suspended for six months, according to the students. Faizan was already facing disciplinary charges. The protesters have demanded the resignation of the chief proctor, withdrawal of the disciplinary orders and an independent inquiry into the alleged use of force.
A university official who did not wish to be named said the security personnel had acted in “self-defence”, alleging that guards had been abused and that their clothes had been torn. The university had issued the protesters a notice on Friday over the alleged mobilisation of current and former students and outsiders at Ghalib Lawn for congregational Friday prayers. The notice said such gatherings could affect campus discipline, peace and communal harmony, and directed students not to organise prayers at the site.
The dispute intensified later in the day when videos showed a large group of protesters shaking the university gate until it broke before entering the campus. Police personnel were seen attempting to disperse the crowd. Delhi Police said no one was detained and that only some individuals trying to break the gate were removed.
The demand for elected student representation is linked to a long-running dispute at Jamia. The university’s elected students’ union was disbanded in March 2006 after a dispute between student leaders and university authorities escalated into violence.
Jamia has said students are not without representation. The university official said elections are held for subject associations at different university centres, with one representative elected for each centre through voting. The official described that arrangement as more effective than a centrally elected union.
The immediate dispute now centres on the disciplinary orders, the allegations of force during the early-morning removal and the protesters’ demand for an independent inquiry. The university’s action and the police response remain the next formal points in the campus confrontation.
