NEW DELHI: Jamia Millia Islamia University's decision to close campus libraries and shift classes online from October 24 failed to prevent hundreds of current and former students from gathering on Sunday in solidarity with hunger strikers demanding the restoration of students’ union elections, with the protest in its 14th day.
Despite a heavy police deployment and barricades at the university gates, students reportedly entered the campus through different gates to reach the protest site near Gate No. 7. The gathering grew through the morning, with students raising slogans, holding posters and dafli s, and banging on gates to demand that they be opened to allow more students inside.
The situation appeared to be under control until around 11 am, but tensions escalated after Vice-Chancellor Mazhar Asif and the proctorial team were seen touring the protest site around noon. The team later left without speaking to the protesters.
By 1.30 pm, the number of police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel deployed at the site had doubled. The situation outside Gate No. 7 grew tense as former students and others joined the gathering. Four to five protesters were allegedly dragged away by Delhi Police and detained at 3 pm. Four female students were also reportedly detained outside the gate.
Protesters alleged that food and water bottles were being prevented from entering the campus, with some students throwing water bottles through the grilled gates as the standoff continued.
The agitation also spread to the girls’ hostels, where students marched through Saturday night. Hostel corridors reportedly echoed with chants of “Inquilab Zindabad” at around 2 am.
The protests come amid allegations that female hostellers had been asked to vacate their rooms within three days, with warnings that mess and Wi-Fi services would be discontinued.
Ruqiah, a Jamia student, said, “Almost all hostellers have been asked to vacate their houses in the next three days. There is no official notice on this but they have just been warning us that the wifi and the mess will be shut. Some of us belong to Assam, Gujarat, Jharkhand , Jammu and Kashmir. How does the administration expect us to get the tickets booked in two days and leave until further orders? We told them there is no ticket available right now owing to the festive season, the warden told us that we should take a cab and leave early.”
She added, “It’s not even a month that we have come to our hostels after paying Rs 29000 and without any official order asking us to vacate such that no one reaches the protest site.”
The students alleged that the move would make it difficult for those from outside Delhi to continue participating in the agitation. They also questioned how they were expected to arrange travel at short notice during the festive season, particularly when tickets were unavailable.