Unrest at India university where no students’ union polls held for 20 years
Summary
Students at Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi are protesting the university’s two-decade suspension of campus-wide student union elections. The university has proposed elections after a draft union constitution is approved, but students rejected the timeline as unclear and slow; five students remain on hunger strike.Key Facts
- Law student Ebin Basil began an indefinite hunger strike on October 12 to demand the restoration of the student union.
- Basil is one of five hunger strikers; several other students who joined the strike have withdrawn over health concerns.
- On October 16, the university suspended Basil for a year and barred two other hunger strikers from campus.
- On October 24, the university barricaded its entrance gates, moved classes online and imposed a ban on gatherings of more than four people on campus.
- The university said elections would take place within 15 days of approval of a draft union constitution, which a committee must prepare by December 20.
- The university has not set a deadline for approving the draft constitution, and student protesters called the proposed process too slow.
- Jamia held student union elections in 1981 and 2005; the union formed in 2005 was dissolved the following year.
- Basil has lost 7kg, struggles to walk unaided, and has low sodium and glucose levels, according to the article.
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