An office memorandum issued by Jamia Millia Islamia is at the centre of attraction. Students from Left groups are opposing the move in which the university has literally put a “ban on protest on campus”.
It is understood that Jamia most probably issued the notification after a few Left-wing students group recently organised a protest against the recent violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal over a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid where slogans were raised against constitutional dignitaries.
Jamia memo on protest
“Some students are involved in raising slogans without the permission or intimation to the university authorities against the Prime Minister of India and other law enforcement agencies of the country, which are not related to the academia as well as to the university.”
The university in an office memorandum issued by Registrar Md Mahtab Alam Rizvi noted: “No protests, dharnas, or raising slogans against any constitutional dignitaries shall be allowed in any part of the university campus, otherwise disciplinary action against such erring students shall be initiated as per provision of the university rules.”
Jamia memo on protest: Students react
Reacting on the development, students’ group All India Students’ Association (AISA) said: “This directive is not merely an attack on students. It is an attack on the very essence of a university. By equating dissent with disorder, the administration exposes its complicity in the BJP’s larger project of stifling democratic voices across the country. Jamia belongs to its students, not to the BJP or the Sangh.”
A student told one channel that they will not accept this restriction as its muzzling students’ voice on the campus. Now it will be interesting to see how Jamia administration is going to implement its new order.
This is not for the first time that such a notification has been issued by the university. In August 2022 the varsity under another vice chancellorship had warned students against holding unauthorised protests or raising slogans in “any part of the university campus without prior permission of the university authorities”
This time around the memorandum has been widely circulated with all Deans of Faculties, Heads of the Departments and Directors of Centres directed to bring this to the notice of the students of their respective faculty / department/Centre.
Jamia memo on protest and other universities
With this memorandum, Jamia has become the second university after JNU. It was in 2023, JNU brought rules in its revised Chief Proctor Office (CPO) manual, prohibiting wall posters, dharnas, or protests within 100 meters of academic buildings while it mentioned that violation of this rule can result in fines up to Rs 20,000 or expulsion.
Students at Jamia have actively participated in protests. Despite, Jamia students leading from the front during the Anti-CAA protests in 2019, the university has not held students’ election since 2006.
Several campaigns by students have failed to move the university authorities to restore democracy at campus. The administration has always took a stand that restoring election on campus will lead to politicisation. Also, there are concerns of local involvement as the university is surrounded by residential areas with Batla House, Jamia Nagar, Shaheen Bagh, Juliana located a few metres from the sprawling campus.
