Jamia Millia Islamia moves classes online as students, guards clash during protest

Delhi's Jamia Millia Islamia has moved its classes online after protesters who demanded the reintroduction of student union elections on the campus clashed with guards today.

The chaos erupted after guards who have been monitoring the protesting students began moving in to remove tents under which the students had gathered.

The university’s registrar alleged that two Congress leaders who visited the campus Friday riled up the students and made them cannon fodder for political narratives.

The students are seeking the restoration of the  Jamia Millia Islamia Students' Union (JMISU). The union was disbanded in 2006 due to campus violence.

Earlier reports claimed that “free Kashmir “ slogans were raised during the protest. The protesting students, as well as Congress leader Imran Masood, who visited the campus, denied the claims.

“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 was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Jamia Registrar Mahtab Alam Rizvi alleged that Congress MPs Imran Pratapgarhi and Imran Masood sneaked into the campus and created a disturbance.

The protest at the campus began on October 12. Apart from demanding the restoration of the union, they are also calling for the removal of the University’s chief proctor for cracking down on the protesters.

Meanwhile the Jamia Millia Islamia’s (JMI) High Level Committee (HLC) has appealed to the students to call off the protests and extend cooperation to the Committee to draft the JMISU constitution.

The HLC said that it secured a notification for the JMI-SU Constitution Draft Committee from the vice-chancellor and registrar, who agreed to set up a drafting committee.