The hunger strike of five Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) students continued for the 13th day on Saturday. The students have been demanding restoration of their students’ union (JMISU) while calling for the removal of the university’s Chief Proctor for “cracking down” on protesters.
Jasim Ali Khan, who has been on a hunger strike since the inception of the protest, accused the university administration of launching a “crackdown”. He demanded that suspensions of students be revoked.
“This is our 13th day of hunger strike. Our demands are clear-cut – restoration of the Students’ Union. However, after the crackdown, our demands also include revocation of suspensions. The third demand is the resignation of the Chief Proctor because the crackdown has occurred under him,” Khan told ANI.
Anas, another student protester, demanded revocation of the show-cause notices issued to students by the proctor and disciplinary committee. He added that the protests will continue until their demands for the restoration of the students’ union are met.
“Four boys and one girl are sitting on hunger strike. Jasim has stood tall from day one and he is the main face of the protest. Others joined him. This protest will continue till the time our students’ union is restored. We demand that actions taken on students by the disciplin(ary) committee and proctor, including show cause notices, must be revoked. The Chief Proctor must resign,” he told ANI.
Addressing the ongoing controversy over graffiti on the university campus showcasing the “Free Kashmir” slogan, Anas argued that a narrative was being peddled to disrupt this peaceful protest. Urging the university admin to probe the matter, he asserted that protesters were not involved.
“A narrative is being peddled to (disrupt) the protest. We don’t know whether the (university) administration or someone is peddling this. This is a matter of investigation since the responsibility for the security of Jamia lies with the admin. You check the cameras to see who is writing (such slogans) and clear the matter. The protesters and (hunger) strikers are absolutely not involved in this. The protest has been peaceful since day one and will remain the same in future,” he said.
The students of Jamia began their protest and hunger strike on October 12. They have been pressing for their demand to restore the students' union. During the initial days of the protest, Delhi police tried to remove the protesters from the designated protest site on the university campus, which led to escalation of the demonstration.
The students' union at Jamia was dissolved in March 2006.
On Friday night, Congrerss MP Imran Masood was briefly detained by Delhi police as he visited the Jamia campus to meet protesting students.
"No slogans calling for a “free Kashmir” were raised there, not a single one. I stood up in front of everyone and strongly condemned such slogans, stating that Kashmir is an integral part of India," Masood told ANI.
Earlier, Jamia Millia Islamia constituted a seven-member high-level committee to engage with protesting students, examine their demands and take steps to restore normalcy on campus, following a hunger strike and protests over students’ demands.
