Jamia agrees to restore students' union after 18-day hunger strike
The university has set 15 May 2027 for approving a union constitution, promised elections within six weeks of the next session and withdrawn action against protesters.
The Global Sun Desk ·
Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi agreed on Thursday night, 29 October, to restore its students' union, ending an 18-day hunger strike by students who had been demanding elections after nearly two decades. The university has set 15 May 2027 as the deadline for approving and implementing the union's constitution, and says polls will be held in the first six weeks of the next academic year.
The agreement
The protest began on 12 October. According to an order shared by students, the university will notify an election schedule in line with the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations once the constitution is approved. Press Trust of India reported that university officials had not at once confirmed the order, but Registrar Mahtab Alam Rizvi later told reporters that the administration had accepted all three demands put to it.
The next session is expected to begin around 16 July 2027, so polls would be due within about six weeks of that date. The third demand was withdrawal of disciplinary action: Rizvi said rustications, suspensions, show-cause notices and campus bans connected to the protest have been revoked. He added that the drafting would not be left solely to teachers and legal experts, and that students from each faculty would be included. It will then go for comments, legal vetting, the Academic Council, the Executive Council and the Visitor's nominee.
Ebin Basil, a third-year law student who had fasted since 12 October, ended his strike at a press conference after the union's registration. He called the outcome a victory for students. Rajya Sabha MP Haris Beeran of the IUML, who was in touch with the vice-chancellor and student representatives over several days, said he took the students' demands back to the university's leadership before the decision was announced.
How it got here
Al Jazeera reported that Jamia's elected union was dissolved in 2006, after the administration pointed to an alleged assault on the vice-chancellor, and that no union poll has been held in about 20 years. Night vigils early in the protest turned into a hunger strike. On 16 October, Al Jazeera said, Basil was suspended for a year and two other fasting students were barred from campus. On 24 October the university shifted classes online, shut the gates and ordered that no more than four people could gather together. On 26 October it offered elections within 15 days of a constitution being approved, but students called it too slow because no date for approval was fixed.
Students said a union would let them speak together on hostel conditions, canteens, fee increases and curbs on joining protests. University spokesperson Saima Saeed had earlier said that no administration in 20 years had accepted the demand before this one, and that a constitution needed a careful look at court rulings, official recommendations and the university's statutes.
What happens next
Students celebrated on campus after the announcement, and the administration asked those still fasting to end their protest. The campus is on Diwali vacation until 8 November, Rizvi said, and he asked students to return for offline classes after that.
Basil said the outcome would be remembered in the university's history. Rehan Mewati, another student who had fasted for 15 days, said the administration had "sided with the truth".