Jamia NSUI unit president Faizan detained amid hunger strike for student union elections, alleges NSUI

The National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) on Wednesday, October 28, took to their X and said that Delhi Police detained two of its members from Gate No. 4 of Jamia Millia Islamia and took them to an undisclosed location, as the protest for restoring student union elections at the university entered its 17th day.

The NSUI identified the detained students as Faizan, the NSUI’s Jamia unit president, and Zeeshan, a former national head of the organisation’s social media wing. In a post on X, the Congress-affiliated student organisation said the detention came as its members continued an indefinite hunger strike demanding the restoration of student union elections. I found no statement from Delhi Police or the university on the detention.

Students have been on hunger strike since October 12, demanding that union elections be held within 15 days. They are demanding the restoration of the Jamia Millia Islamia Students’ Union, whose elections have not been held since 2006, and the withdrawal of disciplinary action against protesters. The agitation was triggered on October 9, when Aligarh Muslim University announced students’ union elections after a 19-day hunger strike, and Jamia had dissolved its union in 2006 citing campus violence and administrative disputes.

The university agreed to hold union elections after more than two weeks of protests. An order issued on Monday stated that elections will take place within 15 days of the approval of the students’ union constitution, and it revoked suspension orders and show-cause notices issued to students during the protest. Students remain unconvinced, according to The Week. Scuffles broke out between the protesting students and paramilitary personnel on Monday after the students refused to end the agitation, and some protesters were detained. The Students’ Federation of India alleged that hundreds of police personnel detained students outside Gate 7 and called the situation a crackdown on students.

The protest has also drawn politicians. An FIR was registered at Jamia Nagar police station on October 25 against Congress MPs Imran Masood and Imran Pratapgarhi and others on a complaint by Registrar Md Mahtab Alam Rizvi, accusing them of trespassing and inciting unrest. The complaint says Masood entered on October 23 by scaling a boundary wall near Gafoor Nagar with the help of a ladder. Masood was briefly detained by Delhi Police on Friday night during his visit to the campus. The Congress expressed solidarity with the agitating students after the two MPs were booked.