Jamia Millia Islamia agrees to student union polls, revokes suspensions with riders

Jamia Millia Islamia transitioned to online classes and deployed heavy police security as students marked their 13th day of a hunger strike demanding the reinstatement of the university's elected student union. (Express Photo by Tabshir Shams)

Officials of Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) met the protesting students on Sunday night. The university then issued a written order agreeing to hold students’ union elections once the union’s constitution is approved.

The order, dated October 26 and issued by the Registrar’s Office, sets the timeline.

“The Jamia Millia Islamia Students’ Union Election will be held after 15 days from the date of approval of the constitution of the students’ union of Jamia Millia Islamia,” it states.

It does not say when the constitution will be approved.

The order also gives the students two other assurances. “Suspension and Show-Cause Notices issued to students during the period of protest are hereby revoked,” it states. A committee will be constituted “to enquire into the actions of security staff during the period of protest”. However a fixed timeline of constitution formation is not stated in the order.

It follows a letter the hunger strikers and their delegates submitted, titled “Demand of Hunger Strike Students”. In it, they said they would end the protest only on receiving a written agreement.

“We will call off the hunger strike and sit-in protest only upon receiving a written agreement from the university administration accepting them,” the letter stated.

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Their main demand was a fixed timeline for restoring the Jamia Millia Islamia Students’ Union (JMISU), which has remained dissolved since 2006. They had also sought the revocation of disciplinary action against protesters and an inquiry into the conduct of security personnel.

The order comes with conditions.

It records the students’ undertaking to issue a public apology at a press conference for any “defamatory statements/actions/posts” made against the administration during the protest. It adds that such social media posts must be taken down with immediate effect, and that compliance will be monitored.

It ends with a direction. “The protest shall be called off immediately on issue of this order.”

The students’ letter, dated October 26 and signed by the hunger strikers and their delegates, also said the protest would end on receipt of an order confirming their demands.

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Tabshir Shams covers health for The Indian Express. He holds a Master's degree in International Relations from South Asian University. Before joining The Indian Express, he interned at The Hindu from December 2025 to June 2026, where he assisted in the research and editing of a book on delimitation published by The Hindu Group Publications. During this time, he also wrote for The Hindu's Text & Context section, on subjects ranging from Pakistan's military establishment to Bangladesh's elections, and reported a Spotlight feature on a jute mill in Samastipur and its ripple effects on labour migration and the local economy. In July 2025, he interned at The Indian Express, where he wrote several explainers on international relations alongside a health report. His Master's thesis examines civil-military relations in Pakistan, with a focus on the post-2019 period. ... Read More