NEW DELHI: Jamia Millia Islamia ordered late on Thursday that its students' union constitution be approved and implemented by May 15, 2027, and elections held within six weeks of the academic session beginning July 16, 2027, while revoking every disciplinary order issued to students during the 18-day protest for the restoration of the union.
The order (No. RO/JMI/2026), signed by Registrar Md Mahtab Alam Rizvi, records that the competent authority considered a representation dated October 29 from students on hunger strike and their delegates. It states that "all ongoing show cause notices, disciplinary actions, rustications, suspensions and campus ban orders issued in connection with participation in the protest period shall be revoked", and directs that "students shall call off the protest and hunger strike with immediate effect". Protesting students said after talks with the Registrar that they would end the fast.
Three things changed from the university's order of October 26. That order set no date for approving the constitution, and said only that elections would follow 15 days after approval; it is now fixed at May 15, 2027, with polling tied to the next session. It lifted only suspensions and show-cause notices; the new order adds rustication orders and campus bans. And it required students to apologise publicly for allegedly defamatory statements and to take down social media posts, which the protesters had refused.
The students had asked for the constitution by December 20 and elections within 15 days of that. They have won a firm timeline and a clean disciplinary record, but polling is now roughly eight months later than they sought, in and around August 2027.
The order does not address their demand for the resignation of the Vice-Chancellor and the Chief Proctor, and it is silent on the committee ordered on October 26 to inquire into the conduct of security staff during the protest.
The withdrawal of internal action has not stopped police proceedings. Delhi Police registered a second FIR against unidentified persons on Thursday over alleged vandalism inside the campus, on a complaint from the university administration, taking the number of FIRs in two separate incidents at the Jamia Nagar police station to two.
The campus is not back to normal: the university has extended online classes to November 24 and moved its odd-semester examinations online, citing the situation on campus and the safety of students.
Jamia's students' union was dissolved on March 31, 2006, after elections held in 2005, following allegations of campus violence and interference in administration. A committee to draft a new union constitution was notified on October 21 under Article 23(J) and (K) of the JMI Act, 1988. A 2012 Delhi High Court petition seeking union elections under the Lyngdoh Committee guidelines was disposed of in December 2022 after the university said the question did not arise.
(With inputs from PTI and media reports)
Pioneer News Service (aggregated)