‘Future at stake’: India moves to demolish university Muslim leader founded

What the report says

Al Jazeera reported from Rampur, in India’s Uttar Pradesh state, that students, alumni and local residents are protesting a demolition order targeting most of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University, an institution founded by senior Muslim politician Azam Khan. The Rampur district administration issued the order on July 15, alleging that 38 of the university’s 40 buildings violated regulatory requirements. Authorities said only two structures had valid approvals and told the university to remove the disputed buildings by August 5 or face demolition by bulldozers, with costs recovered from the institution.

According to the report, the state administration later issued an interim stay, but the university said that did not amount to cancellation of the demolition plan. Vice Chancellor Zaheeruddin told Al Jazeera the stay appeared to delay action beyond the deadline while the university seeks to have the order quashed. The 250-acre campus serves nearly 3,000 students across multiple courses.

The university was established through the Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust, set up by Khan in 2003, and opened three years later. Khan, a founder of the Samajwadi Party and a longtime critic of the BJP, has faced numerous legal cases since the BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2017. His supporters describe the action against the university as political retaliation, while a BJP spokesman told Al Jazeera the demolition order follows legal procedures over alleged illegal land use and construction.

The case matters locally because the report describes Jauhar University as Rampur’s only full-fledged university. University officials said almost half its students are women, and protesters warned that its closure or demolition could sharply limit higher-education access, especially for female students in the district.