Hunger strike, suspensions and protest for a union: Why has Jamia shifted classes online? Students speak out | Exclusive

Jamia Millia Islamia shifted all classes across its courses online until further notice. The move came as tensions grew between the administration and students protesting for the restoration of the students’ union. It matters because the dispute has now affected regular teaching across the university.

The change followed an indefinite hunger strike by five students. They are demanding the union’s restoration, a clear election timeline, and withdrawal of disciplinary action. Students have also alleged a crackdown, including the removal of protesters from their site on 17 October by security personnel accompanied by Delhi Police.

The administration cited the prevailing situation and the need to ensure students’ safety and security. Protesters, however, said online classes were another way to restrict their agitation. Classes will remain online until further notice, while the wider dispute over elections, disciplinary action, and university officials continues.

The central protest demand is the restoration of the Jamia Millia Islamia Students’ Union, or JMISU. Five students began an indefinite hunger strike, and the agitation started on 12 October. Students say they need an elected body to represent their concerns and give them a formal voice in university affairs.

Their three broad demands are clear. First, they want a formal notification setting a timeline for union elections. Second, they want disciplinary action against protesters withdrawn. Third, they want the resignation or removal of the university’s Chief Proctor and Security Advisor. These demands connect elections, protest rights, and accountability.

The administration has proposed creating a committee to draft a union constitution and establish an election mechanism. Students say this could delay elections. The hunger strike was in its 13th day when the university moved classes online, and the dispute remained unresolved.

A students’ union is a representative body chosen by students through elections. It gives students an organised channel to raise campus-related concerns and discuss issues affecting them. At Jamia, the protesters view its restoration as the main step toward giving students a recognised voice.

Nausheen Farooq said students want a representative who can speak for them. Their argument is practical: an elected body can gather student concerns, present them to university officials, and represent student interests in discussions. It can also make the administration more answerable to the wider student community.

Jamia’s union elections have not been held since 2005, and the union was dissolved in 2006. Students therefore say the university lacks a formal elected body for student representation. Their protest seeks both restoration of the union and a firm process leading to elections, rather than another open-ended administrative step.

Jamia Millia Islamia has not held students’ union elections since 2005. This means the university has gone without an elected student-union process for many years. The gap is central to the current protest because students want a definite route back to elections.

The union itself was dissolved in 2006. The article links the present agitation to this absence of an elected representative body. Students argue that they need such a body to voice campus concerns, represent student interests, and hold the administration accountable.

The current disagreement is about how quickly elections can return. Protesters want a formal notification with a clear election timeline. The administration says it must first create a new constitution and an election mechanism. It has proposed a committee for that work, while students fear the process could prolong the uncertainty.

Disciplinary action against protesters is one of the main issues in the Jamia dispute. However, the article does not identify the specific penalties, notices, or measures taken against individual students. It only states that protesters are demanding the withdrawal of disciplinary action.

The demand emerged alongside the hunger strike and allegations of a crackdown. On 17 October, students alleged that security personnel, accompanied by Delhi Police, removed hunger strikers and other students from the protest site. The article also reports that notices were issued after campus gates and libraries were closed.

Students want the university to cancel the disciplinary action as part of a broader settlement. Their other demands are a clear election timeline and the resignation or removal of the Chief Proctor and Security Advisor. The administration’s reported response has focused on a committee and a new election process, not on a stated withdrawal of the action.

The administration’s position is that an election schedule cannot be announced responsibly without the rules that will govern the union. It says Jamia first needs a new constitution and a mechanism for conducting elections. These would define the union’s structure and how the election process should operate.

The reported plan is to form a committee to draft the union constitution. Only after that framework and the election mechanism are established does the administration say an election schedule can be announced. This is the key process difference between the two sides.

Students do not accept an open-ended delay. They want a firm timeline included in the process itself. Farooq questioned the proposal to take two months just to form a drafting committee, while Akhil Muhammad said students wanted a clear commitment rather than another process that could prolong uncertainty. The disagreement has kept the protest unresolved.

An elected student body can organise students’ concerns and present them through recognised representatives. Instead of students speaking individually or through informal protests, the body can serve as a regular channel between students and university officials. That makes student representation more structured.

At Jamia, students say the union would speak for them on campus-related issues. Representatives could collect concerns, communicate student interests, and take those issues to the administration. Because they are elected, they would also be answerable to students. This creates a mechanism for representation rather than relying only on administrative decisions.

Students further argue that a union can hold the administration accountable. It can ask for responses and press for clarity on matters affecting students. Jamia has had no union elections since 2005, and its union was dissolved in 2006. The current protest seeks to restore that representative role through a clear election process.