JMI protest enters day 3; students form human chain for protection; here’s why

NEW DELHI: The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) and Students’ Federation of India (SFI) opposed the restrictions imposed on student gathering by the Jamia Millia Islamia administration and said it stands in solidarity with students of JMI in protest to restore campus democracy. The sit-in protest on JMI campus has entered the third day.

Four students - Jyoti, Saurabh, Niranjan, and Fuzail - were recently issued show-cause notices threatening draconian disciplinary action for organising a gathering to observe “Jamia Resistance Day”. Demanding to immediately withdraw the show-cause notices issued against student activists, the SFI JMI unit and other students have been holding an indefinite sit-in protest on campus.

They further urged the administration to immediately repeal all office memorandums restricting students' rights to hold gatherings, protests, and reading circles.

JMI students form human chain

Condemning the JMI's “blatant attempts to suppress the democratic rights of students”, the protesting students said the administration has refused to engage in dialogue with the students.

“Instead, they have deployed approximately 20 security guards armed with laathis around the protest premises, creating an intimidating atmosphere last night. The administration has also shut down the lights in the premises, adding to the difficulties faced by the students,” the JMI students said.

“The students, including women, continue to protest, forming a human chain to protect themselves from the guards,” students said. Adding to this, canteens in gate number 7 were closed, intensifying the situation. “The admin released a new notice last night claiming the protest to be illegal and asking the peacefully protesting students to evacuate the protest site,” they added.

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What happened on January 31?

“On January 31, 2024, a vindictive notice was issued against Comrade Saurabh and Jyoti threatening draconian disciplinary action. This attack is not an isolated incident-it is part of the larger offensive by the fascist state machinery against all democratic and progressive spaces,” the JNUSU said in a statement.

The students union said that the restrictions “exposes their utter contempt for people's movements” and alleged that the administration was threatening students of being expelled and being under heavy surveillance.

“The issuance of two Office Memoranda by the registrar, an unelected bureaucrat serving the interests of the ruling elite-imposing draconian restrictions on political and "non-academic" gatherings, is a blatant violation of students' fundamental rights.

Taking a dig at the Jamia administration, the JNUSU said the institute is acting as servile agents of the Hindutva-corporate nexus, selectively enforces these restrictions while enabling the infiltration of ABVP goons to incite communal disharmony and terrorize students.”

The targeting of common students, particularly from marginalised backgrounds, exemplifies the administration's communal, and anti-democratic character, it added.

JMI imposes 'fine, imprisonment'

In an order dated August 2022, Jamia Millia Islamia barred students from organising events or protests, without prior approval. Since then, student activities such as discussion, exhibitions, and demonstrations on various national and international issues have been subjected to administrative intimidation.

The JNUSU claimed that the JMI students also received threats from the administration to withhold their results, admit cards. Students have also been issued show cause notices and faced suspension, it added.

The recent ban on graffiti, postures with absurd penalties of Rs 50,000 fine and imprisonment, is yet another fascist tool to silence resistance and obliterate revolutionary expression, the JNU students’ union said.