New Delhi: Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) has approved the implementation of the university’s student union constitution, setting May 15, 2027 as the deadline for its completion, and directed the protesting students to immediately call off their agitation.
In an order dated October 29, the university said the competent authority had considered a request letter submitted by students on the same day and issued directions regarding the implementation of the Jamia Millia Islamia Students’ Union’s (JMISU) constitution, the conduct of elections and the withdrawal of disciplinary action against protesters.
The university said it would notify the schedule for elections in accordance with recommendations and guidelines laid down by the Lyngdoh Committee on Student Elections after the approval of the constitution. The elections will be conducted within six weeks of the start of the academic session, which is approximately six weeks from July 16, 2027, the order said.
The order also said the university will withdraw all show-cause notices and disciplinary proceedings started against students involved in the protest. It added that orders on expulsion and suspension, as well as restrictions on campus entry, would be revoked.
The order also said the university will withdraw all show-cause notices and disciplinary proceedings started against students involved in the protest. It added that orders on expulsion and suspension, as well as restrictions on campus entry, would be revoked.
Ebin Basil, a student who was on a hunger strike for the past 18 days, said, “This is a great victory for the students; it will be written in golden letters in Jamia’s history.” Rehan Mewati, another student who was on hunger strike for the last 15 days, told news agency ANI, “The truth has triumphed.”
Why There Was A Stalemate
Earlier, on October 26, the registrar’s order said the election “will be held after 15 days from the date of approval of the constitution of the students’ union”. The hunger-striking students rejected that order and continued their protest, saying it left the timeline open-ended.
The students had demanded that the constitution be drafted and approved by December 20, with elections held within 15 days after that. As per Thursday’s timeline, polling would take place around mid-August 2027.
The JMISU was dissolved in 2006, and the university has not held students’ union elections since. The administration reasoned that the disbanding was due to “a series of violent incidents, the last being the attack on the Vice Chancellor”. From 2012, it said elections could not be held while a Delhi High Court petition was pending, though students disputed that logic.
The latest protest began over two weeks ago. It followed a similar agitation at Aligarh Muslim University in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh. There, the administration agreed to restore students’ union elections after a 19-day hunger strike and scheduled polls for November 5.
The Jamia administration’s new order covers more disciplinary actions that would be revoked.
