A view from Gate No. 7 of Jamia Millia Islamia gives a passer-by pause.

Near the administrative block, students sit in protest, demanding a students’ union, elections and the release of detained protesters. They have also sought the proctor’s resignation, accusing him, in conversations with India Today, of acting on instructions rather than exercising independent judgment.

If Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) have unions, they ask, why should Jamia remain without one? The protesters have also voiced support for student unions and elections at IITs and private universities across the country.The question has a history.

Jamia has not held students’ union elections since 2006, bringing a two-decade tradition to an end. The present agitation, including two hunger strikes which began on October 11, has seen protesters raise their voices in the shadow of Mirza Galib's statue, seeking a way to restore student representation.On October 26, however, the protesters again found themselves at odds with administration led by Vice-Chancellor Professor Mazhar Asif.

The students said their concerns remained unresolved, despite the formation of a draft committee and a deadline of December 20.They are seeking an official notification and have demanded that no prior approval be required once the deadline has passed. What, then, unsettled the agreement, and where will the agitation lead?

The truce proved short-lived. Students said the agreement had been signed on the eve of October 26 by a fellow protester who had spent several days in agitation and was exhausted.Many protesters, they said, had been passing their nights in the open, exposed to mosquitoes and the weather.

On the evening of October 27, hostel residents in hundreds marched through the campus with torches in solidarity. Thereafter, fewer reports of vandalism appeared in the media.THE SURVIVAL IN CAMPUSIn an exclusive conversation with India Today, a PhD scholar explained why he had joined the movement, which includes members of the All India Students’ Association (AISA) and the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI).He spoke for the rights of minorities as the instituion widely represetns them and alleged the current estabkishemnt to neglecting those.Students at the protest site spoke of shortages of food, water, clothing and medicines.

They said food was being brought in discreetly after imposition of prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS.Nivelle, a master’s student, said students were pooling their resources to sustain the agitation. “Students are coming together in solidarity, doing crowdfunding, and whatever little they have, they are directing towards the cause of the protest and our demands,” he said.Lubaib, a PhD scholar at Jamia and part of the protest, alleged that the university had stopped supplies, saying, “The supply have been completely stopped by the institute maybe to let us starving and die.”Mantasha Irfan, a Jamia student and an AISA member, told India Today that women at the protest site lacked basic necessities. “We don't have pads, we don't have clothes because we have been caged by Delhi police and central forces,” Irfan said.Barricades and police deployments were visible around several gates, including Gates 7, 8 and 13, as well as the Centenary Gate.Some students, including members of AISA, were detained after attempting to enter the area, according to the account of the protest.The Jamia administration has meanwhile moved classes online. In its latest announcement, Jamia extended online classes until November 24, while odd-semester examinations were also shifted online.

Physical classes can only come back after January 12 next year.The Department of Political Science, ordinarily a place for studying the workings of power. Gulistan-e-Ghalib, usually associated with the quiet of literature, stands amid a campus conversation that has turned from Ghalib to the demands of the present.THE ADMINISTRATION'S POSITIONThe administration, for its part, has defended its handling of the protest.

Speaking to India Today, Jamia Millia Islamia’s official spokesperson said that senior teachers had met the students to hear their demands, but questioned their conduct.“Very senior teachers from the institute voluntarily went out to talk to students to listen to their demands, whether they were complicit or not. For three to four hours, the teachers sat with the students, and despite that, this attitude had been shown by the students, vandalism, agitation and mocking the professors?

Is it justified?” she said.The campus, meanwhile, has grown quiet. The paths on a century-old campus once filled with students now see fewer people, though staff continue their work.The shift to online classes has raised concerns among students whose courses require practical training.

Many living in paying guest accommodation and rented rooms have had little choice but to adjust to the change.A first-year student of food production told India Today, “It’s not good at all. My course is food production, all practical-based, and how can it be done online?

There is no sense. I am already losing my precious time of studies.”A senior journalist with India Today, who has covered campus politics for years, offered a different view.

He argued that a prolonged protest might harm students who had come to Jamia in the hope of securing an education and the opportunities that follow, including scholarships.He also questioned the gains made by student unions at Indian varisites, maintaining that even at DU their influence had been limited.INSPIRED BY AMU AND JNULubaib, a PhD scholar at Jamia, said the protesters drew inspiration from the student movements at AMU and JNU. Referring to developments at Aligarh, he said, “Few days back AMU was able to finally get what the students of a great institute deserve.

They now have a union, elections will be held. Why can it not happen at Jamia?

Our demand resonates with what Aligarh Muslim University was able to achieve.”The example of AMU, he suggested, had strengthened the resolve of those who wanted a union and elections at Jamia.The Jantar Mantar protest associated with CJP, which the students cite as an influence, has also shaped the thinking of some Jamia protesters.The anti-CAA-NRC protests of 2019–20, too, remain a source of inspiration for some, including a young woman who spoke of the movement’s influence on her own resolve.The same student, who spoke to India Today on the condition of anonymity, referred to Umar Khalid and Neha Bora as influences. “Umar Khalid, Neha Bora have their imprints on me. The path they showed to us now is helping in taking our fight forward, and we shall not stop till our demands are met,” the student said.The India Today team attempted to speak to officers leading the Delhi Police companies deployed in the area.

The officers declined to comment, saying, “We are not authorised to utter a word here. We are only following our instructions.”No further official clarification was shared with the team regarding the deployment.

At the time of reporting, no statement from the Delhi Police or the Union Home Ministry had been made available to us addressing the application of BNSS 163 in the locality.The Ministry of Education, which oversees the broader framework within which Jamia operates, had also not issued a statement available to the team on the students’ concerns and the disruption to their studies.At Gate No. 7, the tent remains a visible reminder of the dispute.

The university’s ordinary life has not disappeared, but it has been interrupted: students continue their studies online, residents have shown solidarity, and protesters remain divided from the administration over the way forward.For now, the central question remains the one that brought students to the gate in the first place: when, and on what terms, will their demands for representation be answered?- Ends