Let me tell y’all a story
Not a lot of you are from India, and even fewer are from North India I think, so you will be unaware of Jamia Millia Islamia.
JMI is a government university, founded by freedom fighters with a long and storied history of fighting for social justice.
In recent years, specifically during and after COVID, Jamia’s admin has cracked down on student organisations, protests, or even just gatherings in general. Police never used to be allowed at campus unless it was an emergency but the new norm is that police surround the campus before a major festival or at the slightest hint of dissent.
In 2019, the government passed the Citizenship Amendment Act, an act that was targeting Muslim communities and driving them out. Protests erupted all over the country, and of course at Jamia.
That year there was an unprecedented level of police brutality at the campus. Students were beaten black and blue, university buildings were broken into and trashed, and hostel-residing students were all but prohibited from leaving at all out of fear of their safety. Delhi Police has not yet taken accountability for this.
Last December was the 5 year anniversary of that incident. Jamias chapter of SFI (Students Federation of India) organised a demonstration, to demand accountability from Delhi police.
On the 9th of February, 2025, SFI once again organised a protest. A peaceful, sit-in protest, this time because Admin had threatened students with show-cause notices for their participation in the December event. Students said it was wrong, it was unconstitutional, to threaten students for demanding justice, for exercising their rights.
The sit in protest continues. On day two, guards began getting more aggressive with students and fights were breaking out. On day three, police surrounded the campus where the protest was happening, armed and ready. At 5am on day four, where the number of students sitting for “the night shift” was lowest, they stormed in and detained 14 students.
For almost the rest of the day no one had any idea where these students were. None were reachable, there was no contact. Later they’d been returned, and we’d found out that they’d all been split up and sent to different stations, and had only been let go in the evening.
The protest was renewed, this time with the added cause of demanding justice for their friends.
Jamia retaliated by suspending several students including the SFI President, on made up charges including “behaving in a manner which is unbecoming of a university student” a claim which is laughably and intentionally vague.
The most recent (as of 15th February 2025) horrible things admin has done, is to reveal the personal details of select students who were found to be in the protest. They released their full names, departments and majors, student ID numbers, photos, affiliated organisations, emails, and even their phone numbers and home addresses.
The notice was soon taken down, but photos and videos had already gone viral. These students were being harassed, all while Jamia did nothing and in fact facilitated this.
Slowly, the student organisations of departments within the university, as well as the student organisations of other universities across India are showing their support for the students.
I encourage all of you to look into this. I know it’s not as big as a lot of the world’s issues right now, but it’s important to me. This is a fight for the right to express opinion, for the right to demand justice, for the right to come to class without fear of being retaliated against for exercising our rights.
Jamia Millia Islamia students detained for protesting against university administration, suspended for vandalism, disrupting law and order.
The latest action comes a day after around 12 students protesting on campus were detained by police and later released. Students later claim
Here’s the link to SFI Jamia’s Instagram account
Here’s the link to National Students Federation of India (JMI Chapter)’s Instagram account
SFI’s account will give you a more complete picture, and in December they’ve even released videos of the 2019 protests to show what they were fighting for.
More people need to know how students are being treated in this country
