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

What the report says

A student protest at Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi has intensified over the university’s failure to hold a students’ union election for two decades, according to Al Jazeera. The campus has seen weeks of demonstrations, including a hunger strike led by law student Ebin Basil and several others demanding the restoration of an elected union. Al Jazeera reported that Basil has been fasting since Oct. 12 and that the protest has drawn hundreds of students near the main entrance.

The university administration has taken disciplinary and security measures during the standoff. Al Jazeera said Basil was suspended for a year and two other hunger strikers were barred from campus on Oct. 16. By Oct. 24, gates were barricaded, classes shifted online, police and paramilitary personnel were stationed outside, and gatherings of more than four people were banned. The university later said elections would be held within 15 days of approval of a draft union constitution, but students rejected the timeline as too uncertain.

Students told Al Jazeera that an elected union would give them a stronger voice on campus issues such as housing, food, fees and restrictions on political activity. The report also placed Jamia’s dispute in a broader context of contested student representation at Muslim institutions in India, noting that Aligarh Muslim University has also recently faced pressure for union elections. More broadly, the article said the dispute reflects concerns about shrinking democratic space on Indian campuses, especially at minority institutions.