Protest at India university where no students’ union vote held for 20 years

Jamia Millia Islamia students are protesting the absence of a campus-wide elected students’ union. The union has been suspended for about 20 years. Students say elected representatives are needed to raise shared concerns and limit the administration’s unchecked power. The protest matters because it challenges how students participate in decisions affecting university life.

Five students are at the centre of the protest hunger strike. Ebin Basil, a 23-year-old law student, began fasting on October 12. The university suspended him for a year and banned two other hunger strikers from campus. Students have also held night vigils and gathered near the statue of Mirza Ghalib.

The university offered elections within 15 days after approval of a draft constitution. However, it set December 20 for preparing the draft but no deadline for approving it. Students rejected the offer as too slow. Classes moved online, gates were barricaded, and the university closed until January 13.

A students’ union is an elected organisation that speaks for students as a group. It normally represents their interests before university administrators. It may gather complaints, organise meetings, campaign on campus issues, and help students respond collectively to decisions. Its exact powers differ between universities, but its central purpose is representation.

At Jamia, students connect a union with concerns about halls of residence, canteens, fee increases, and restrictions on joining protests. An elected body could collect these concerns and present them through recognised representatives. It could also give students a shared platform instead of leaving individuals to challenge decisions alone.

The union would not automatically control the administration. However, students say it could reduce arbitrary decision-making by creating an organised channel for accountability. Jamia currently permits elected department-level student bodies, but they cannot influence the whole campus. That gap explains why protesters want a university-wide election rather than only smaller local representatives.

Jamia has lacked a functioning campus-wide elected students’ union since 2006, when the union elected the previous year was dissolved. The article describes the interruption as lasting about 20 years. This long gap is central to the current protest because many students have never experienced a university-wide union representing them.

The first Jamia student union election took place in 1981. Elections were discontinued in 1997 amid campus unrest. They resumed in 2005, but that union lasted only one year. The administration dissolved it in 2006, blaming an alleged attack on the vice-chancellor.

Since then, students have made several efforts to restore elections. These included a high court petition in 2011 and a hunger strike in 2017. The university also allowed elected department-level bodies. Those bodies provided limited representation, but students say they lacked campus-wide influence. The present protest seeks a clear, immediate election rather than another indefinite delay.

Jamia’s union was not suspended for one single reason across its history. Elections were discontinued in 1997 amid campus unrest. They resumed in 2005, but the restored union was dissolved the following year. The university administration blamed an alleged attack on the vice-chancellor for ending that union.

The article does not provide further detail about the unrest or the alleged attack. It does show that the university’s relationship with student democracy has been marked by long interruptions. After the 2006 dissolution, later efforts to revive the union included a 2011 high court petition and a 2017 hunger strike.

To ease pressure, Jamia permitted elected student bodies at department level. These bodies did not have authority across the whole campus. The current protest reflects continued dissatisfaction with that arrangement. Students want a university-wide union and a definite election timetable. The university’s proposed constitution process has not satisfied them because approval has no stated deadline.

The protest and the university’s response have disrupted nearly every part of campus life. Gates were barricaded, gatherings of more than four people were banned, and armed police and paramilitary forces were stationed outside. Students in university accommodation were pressured to leave. The university was later closed until January 13.

Classes and exams moved online. Nearly 200 protesters returned to the grounds on October 17, but the university’s restrictions continued. Five students remained at the centre of the hunger strike, while others withdrew because of health concerns. Ebin Basil lost 7kg, had low sodium and glucose levels, and could barely walk unaided.

The response has also affected housing, movement, and face-to-face education. Basil described the campus as sealed behind a wall at its gates. The university’s offer of elections within 15 days of approving a constitution has not ended the dispute. Students reject the timetable because approval itself has no deadline, so disruption may continue.

Jamia’s main alternative to a campus-wide union is a system of elected department-level student bodies. These smaller bodies give students some representation within individual departments. The university introduced them to ease pressure after repeated attempts to restore a full union failed. They do not, however, represent students across the institution.

That limited reach is the key problem for protesters. Issues such as halls of residence, canteens, fee increases, and campus-wide restrictions affect students across departments. A department body may raise local concerns, but it cannot provide one collective voice for the entire university. It also lacks influence over decisions made for all students.

Students therefore say department-level representation is insufficient. Ebin Basil argues that a full union would give students power and reduce the administration’s arbitrary authority. The current dispute concerns both representation and timing. The university has proposed a constitution before elections, but students say the process remains vague because approval has no deadline.

Elected student unions matter because they give students a recognised way to participate in decisions affecting their education and daily life. They can gather complaints, represent shared demands, and make university authorities answerable to an organised constituency. This can strengthen accountability inside an institution and teach practical democratic habits such as voting, debate, and collective action.

Jamia students identify concrete issues: residence halls, canteens, fee increases, and restrictions on joining youth-led antigovernment protests. A campus-wide union could combine these concerns and present them through elected representatives. That mechanism differs from department bodies, which cannot influence the whole university. Students say representation would reduce the administration’s arbitrary power.

The current situation shows why the issue matters. Jamia has had long interruptions in student elections, while protests have brought suspensions, police deployment, online classes, and campus closure. The university has proposed a constitution and later elections, but students want a clear date. Whether trust improves depends on a definite, accepted process.