Jamia Millia Islamia shifts classes online after clash between students and security guards over union polls

Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi has shifted all classes online with immediate effect after students protesting for the restoration of campus union elections clashed with security guards on Saturday. Chaos erupted on the campus when security guards, who had been monitoring the protest, moved to remove tents set up by the protesting students.

In a notice issued by the registrar’s office, the university said the decision was taken as a precautionary measure to ensure students’ safety and security and maintain continuity in the teaching-learning process.

Urging students across all courses to adhere to their online class schedules and avoid visiting the campus, the university said that gates and libraries would remain closed until further notice. A video of the incident showed students and security guards engaged in a scuffle, with some protesters attempting to pull their fellow mates and security guards away and pacify the situation.

The development came after more than 1,500 teaching and non-teaching staff, along with Vice-Chancellor Mazhar Asif and Registrar Md Mahtab Alam Rizvi, gathered at Ansari Auditorium lawns in the morning and later marched to Gate No. 7 to urge protesters to call off their agitation.

In a statement, the university said the staff had unanimously resolved to appeal to the students to vacate the protest site and restore normalcy on campus. They also decided to repaint walls defaced with what the administration described as “objectionable slogans”.

According to the university, the staff persuaded the protesters for nearly two hours to end their agitation, but the students continued raising slogans and asked the faculty to return. The administration alleged that some protesters pushed security guards, staff members and teachers, following which the staff withdrew from the site.

However, the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), Jamia unit, alleged that university officials, including the proctor and registrar, along with security adviser, attempted to forcibly remove the hunger strikers, dismantled tents and dragged women students during the confrontation.

A student at the protest site alleged that the administration’s representatives, accompanied by security guards and faculty members, attempted to remove the protesters’ tents after talks failed. The situation escalated over the next 15 to 20 minutes, the student claimed, adding that five hunger strikers moved inside a department while other students tried to shield them.

The student also alleged that police personnel were present in large numbers outside the university, that students were being prevented from entering the campus and that some were dragged away and detained. There was no immediate response available from the Delhi Police.

The protest, which began nearly two weeks ago, is centred on the demand for the restoration of the Jamia Millia Islamia Students’ Union (JMISU), with students pointing out that elections have not been held since 2006.

Four students have been on an indefinite hunger strike, while a PhD scholar Sanam has been staging an indefinite sit-in at the Gulistan-e-Ghalib lawns, according to the SFI.

The university said a seven-member committee of professors had held four rounds of talks with the students and issued an appeal asking them to call off the agitation.