‘Won’t back down until we get a union’: Students’ strike at Jamia enters 14th day

Over 100 security personnel on duty, students trying to enter the varsity by climbing walls covered in barbed wires and metal spikes, alleged scuffles between protesters and security personnel, rallies and sloganeering as protesters on hunger strike kept themselves locked inside the Department of Political Science to ensure that their fast could not be broken: these were the scenes at Jamia Millia Islamia in Southeast Delhi on Sunday as the students’ protest seeking reinstatement of its union entered the 14th day.

Even as the varsity shifted the classes online on Saturday, tension did not abate in and around the campus with over 500 students gathering to back the stir on Sunday.

The protest site, near Gulistan-e-Ghalib, the library and the canteen were cut off from outside. No students were allowed inside. Security personnel — from Delhi Police, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) – were deployed both inside and outside the campus. “About 150 to 200 security personnel were deployed outside the campus. Three people, who were not students, were detained from outside,” a senior police officer said.

The officer added that an FIR has been filed over the chaos during protest on Friday. After the university authorities had lodged a formal complaint with the Delhi Police against Congress Lok Sabha MP Masood, Rajya Sabha MP Imran Pratapgarhi and others, they have been named in the FIR. They were accused of trespassing on the campus and inciting unrest.

Security personnel — from Delhi Police, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) – were deployed both inside and outside the campus. (Express Photo by Tabshir Shams)

What students seek

On Sunday, the students wrote an email to Vice-Chancellor Mazhar Asif and said the hunger strike by five students would be called off only after receiving a written assurance on the acceptance of their demands. The main demand is the restoration of Jamia Millia Islamia Students’ Union (JMISU), with a fixed election date and schedule. The last time the university held a student union poll was in 2005.

Protesters have rejected the administration’s proposal to draft a union constitution first and set a deadline for the process.

Lubaib, a PhD scholar and one of the organisers of the protest, told The Indian Express, “They (The university) shifted classes online to stop the mobilisation. They have also started vacating the hostels, but it has had no effect on our resolve. Students being stopped outside are still joining us, by climbing the wall.”

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He added, “We wrote to the Vice-Chancellor today. We have also approached the administration informally, hoping they would talk to us, but they have not responded. We will not back down until we get a students’ union.”

Seeking an urgent meeting with the Vice-Chancellor and polls by November 30, protesters have claimed that the committee that the administration formed to engage with them has not given a concrete, time-bound commitment. Protesters said they have drawn inspiration from Aligarh Muslim University, where the administration announced union elections after a prolonged hunger strike by students.

According to a varsity official, the administration has so far held four rounds of talks with the protesters. “The sequence has to be followed: first a constitution, then the electoral roll, then the election date,” the official said, adding “After a 20-year gap, and with the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations and University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations having changed, this cannot be done in haste. A draft constitution committee has been formed and notified, and we are responding positively to the students’ demands.”

Protesters have cited the Supreme Court’s 2006 judgment in University of Kerala v. Council of Principals, Colleges, Kerala and Others, and the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations, to argue that drafting a constitution should not delay announcing elections. In the letter on Sunday, they also demanded unconditional revocation of all disciplinary action since October 12, when the protest started, including rustication, suspension, campus bans and show-cause notices. They have also sought the removal of the Chief Proctor and Security Advisor, citing the treatment of students during the agitation.

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Tense scenes

Scuffle between students and security personnel and similar tense scenes unfolding along Jama Masjid Road near the Central Mosque, and near the Department of Nanotechnology with students trying to scale the walls marked the afternoon of the 14th day of the protest.

Around 1 pm, students from the boys’ hostel marched to Gate No. 4 and were stopped. Some were driven away in police vehicles, protesters claimed. However, there was no official confirmation on detentions.

Near the Central Mosque, the walls were topped with metal spikes and rods. Students scaled these walls anyway.

Among them was Jaffer, a student of political science. His grey trousers tore on the way up and he got a minor bruise on his thighs. He jumped down on the other side, and he was in.

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Inside, hundreds of students stayed around the protest site. Rallies went out throughout the day.

“Our resolve has only grown stronger,” Ebin, one of the students on hunger strike, said, adding, “We will not leave this place until our demands are met.”

For some, staying near the protest site has meant going without proper food and sleep. Shoyeb, a PhD scholar in law, walked out through a gate in the evening that remained closed to other students. Speaking in a half-spent voice, he said, “I have been inside for two days. I haven’t eaten much. I’m very tired and dehydrated. I’m going back now to eat something and rest. I will come back at night and climb the walls to get in.”