NEW DELHI: Students at Jamia Millia Islamia described the university as a "virtual police garrison appearing to be under a state-imposed quarantine” on Tuesday, as Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) was enforced outside the campus, with police announcements warning of legal action against those assembling in the area.
The university resembled a fortress, with sealed gates, welded grills, electricity and water supplies cut off, and a heavy deployment of the Delhi Police, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
Several detention buses, a riot control vehicle and a tear gas van were also stationed in the area as the students’ hunger strike demanding the restoration of the students’ union continued for a 16th day.
Security arrangements were tightened across the campus, with additional guards deployed at the gates and alternative entrances sealed. Double grills were installed at several entry points, while lanes behind the main gates, which have smaller openings through which people can enter the campus, were barricaded.
The Ibn-e-Sina block gate, which was reportedly broken during Monday’s unrest, was welded shut, with another layer of grills installed. Security was also tightened outside the vice-chancellor’s office and residence, while a large number of police personnel gathered at the Tikona Park parking lot, awaiting further directions.
The stretch from Holy Family Hospital to Batla House Chowk remained choked throughout the day amid the heavy police deployment.
The intensified restrictions came a day after the university administration issued a notification asking students to vacate the premises, announcing that mid-term examinations would be held online and that online classes would continue until November 8.
On Tuesday, the protest tent remained intact, but there was little visible activity at the protest site. Only around 60-70 students were present alongside the hunger strikers in the Political Science Department at the Gulistan-e-Ghalib building, with the agitation continuing within the department.
Three more students joined the protest on Tuesday. Ebin Basil was on the 16th day of his fast, and Rehan Khan on the 13th, while Ritik, Altaf, and Abuzar joined the protest.
The students have been demanding the restoration of the Jamia Millia Islamia Students’ Union (JMISU), which has remained at the centre of the standoff between the protesting students and the administration.
A student representative said some officers had met them on Tuesday morning and conveyed that a direct meeting with the vice-chancellor would take place. “We are waiting for that,” the representative said.
Meanwhile, the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) condemned the administration’s actions. Nadia, Delhi SFI president, alleged that the decision to shift classes online until November 8, shut libraries and reading rooms, and ask students to vacate hostels was aimed at preventing them from joining the peaceful protest.
“This assault on education and the rights of students comes after the Jamia administration has put a notice shifting all classes to the online mode till 8th November 2026, cutting off students' access to library and reading rooms, and forcing students to vacate hostel accommodation just so that students do not join the peaceful protest and hunger strike that has been ongoing since 12th October 2026,” she said.
Nadia also alleged that the administration had given the Delhi Police a free hand to harass, detain and arrest students, and that entry gates had been permanently blocked by welding them shut.
Expressing concern over the developments, Gopinath Ravindran, formerly a professor in Jamia’s Department of History and Culture, urged the vice-chancellor to initiate dialogue with the protesting students.
“I am deeply distressed seeing the images of students being manhandled and threatened by the university administration for peacefully demanding a most basic constitutional right—democratic representation in the form of a Students’ Union,” he said.
Ravindran said Jamia was the only central university in Delhi without a students’ union since 2006. Recalling that elections had been held in 2005, when he believed he had served as the returning officer, he said the union had abruptly come to an end in 2006 following an altercation with its leadership.
The Delhi Police, meanwhile, rejected claims that the university had handed over any gate or part of the campus to the police, calling them “totally false and baseless." It said police personnel remained outside the university to maintain peace in the area.