Vacate protest site: Jamia sends legal notice; detentions, scuffles continue

Even as more than 700 security personnel were on duty, nearly double as compared to a day before, and the university agreed to hold union polls after nearly 20 years, Jamia Millia Islamia continued to see tense scenes on Monday with the students’ strike entering the third week over a slew of demands. More than 40 students were briefly detained, according to police officers, through the day as the varsity saw scuffles between protesters and security personnel. In the night, a legal notice was issued by the varsity, warning of disciplinary action, to vacate the protest site near Gulistan-e-Ghalib while restrictions on entry of students continued.

While five students began a hunger strike on October 12 over union polls, among other demands, three of them — Ebin, Rehan and Rida — vowed to continue to fast on Monday till all demands are met. Another student joined them in hunger strike in the early hours of Tuesday.

In another order on Monday, the university said that online classes would continue through the Diwali holidays, until November 8, after which the situation would be reviewed. It also said the second mid-semester examinations “shall be held through online mode”, with detailed guidelines and modalities to be decided by the respective departments in consultation with the Controller of Examinations. The order further directed PhD research scholars to consult their supervisors online.

How the day unfolded

As the protest entered the 15th day on Monday, the morning started with sporadic marches and sloganeering and students continued to scale walls to enter the campus. By 2.30 pm, while most gates were sealed, women students led protest marches of around 200 students, raising slogans and demanding a fixed timeline for the approval of the students’ union constitution.

The banners they held read slogans such as “Sarfaroshi ki tamanna…(The desire for sacrifice is now in our hearts)”, and “No barricades, no detention…we want student representation.”

A minor scuffle broke out as police removed several protesters from both sides of Gate 7, where more than 50 personnel were deployed, and told the rest to disperse.

They didn’t. The protest moved a few metres away, opposite the Ibn Sina Library. Some students broke the locks on the gates and walked in, as the policemen watched.

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Two marches by women students wound through the campus. Outside, students, who could not enter, pressed against the gates and watched.

With classes shifted online, the canteen and library continued to remain shut. For the protesters, food, water, and fruits in baskets were sent over the boundary wall by supporters standing outside.

Nausheen Farooq, one of the organisers, said, “We are still protesting because there is no timeline given to us. We want the approval of the constitution by December 20, and the election announcement within 15 days.”

Inside the campus, a group sat beneath the Ghalib statue inside a yellow and blue tent. Multiple groups of students scattered around the campus, seldom sloganeering, a poetry session, then slogans again.

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In a notice issued on Monday night, Jamia Millia Islamia’s Chief Proctor gave Rehan Khan, a first-semester Geography student, a “final opportunity” to vacate the Gulistan-e-Ghalib building and the sit-in site at Ghalib Lawn in the North Campus.

The notice said most protesters had subsequently ended their hunger strike, called off the protest and vacated the buildings housing the departments of political science and economics, as well as the sit-in site in the north campus.

However, Khan allegedly continued the sit-in and hunger strike despite a notice issued by the registrar at 4.15 am, the chief proctor said

The notice stated that the presence of protesters in the building, which houses the Departments of Political Science and Economics, was “unlawful” and was “causing suffering to the smooth functioning of these departments”. It warned that if the student failed to vacate the premises immediately, “disciplinary and legal action shall be initiated against you”.