Jamia forms seven-member panel to hold talks with hunger-striking students

Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi has set up a seven-member committee to talk to students who have been on a hunger strike demanding the return of an elected students' union. The panel was constituted by the administration of Vice-Chancellor Mazhar Asif after a meeting of senior officials, with the decision reported on October 18 and 19, 2026. It includes five deans and other senior faculty members, and it has been asked to hear the protesters' grievances, examine their demands and report back to the Vice-Chancellor quickly. The move comes days after the university rusticated one student and barred two others over the protest. As of the latest reports, the university had not decided whether to restore the union or withdraw the disciplinary orders.

The dispute is about more than one campus protest. A students' union gives students an elected voice in decisions about fees, hostels, safety and academic issues. Jamia has gone two decades without one. The university's position is that elections were stopped because of repeated violence and disruption, including attacks on teachers, and it points to a 2022 Delhi High Court case that was disposed of without any order to hold polls. The students' position is that the absence of a union leaves them without a formal way to raise problems.

Tension rose sharply in the past week. Students say they were removed from the campus before dawn on October 17, after which the administration announced a closure of the campus. Protesters have alleged that lights were switched off, that students were manhandled and that some were handed over to Delhi Police. The administration has denied using force, saying the students were asked to leave because the protest site was outside the area set aside for such gatherings. These are competing claims, and no independent inquiry has ruled on them.

The new committee is the first formal channel for talks since the strike began. Its make-up, with deans and senior professors rather than security or disciplinary officials, suggests the administration wants a negotiated end. But the committee has no stated power to restore the union on its own; any decision will rest with the Vice-Chancellor and the university's statutory bodies.

The Jamia protest is running at the same time as a hunger strike at Jawaharlal Nehru University, where students are protesting against the rustication of elected union members. Together, the two disputes have brought questions of student representation in Delhi's central universities into national focus.

Short-term: The committee's first meeting with the protesters will decide whether the hunger strike ends or continues. Classes and campus access may stay disrupted until there is an agreement.

Long-term: If the panel recommends a path to elections, Jamia could hold its first students' union polls since 2006, which would change how students are represented in the university's decisions. If talks fail, the dispute may move to the courts.

Who is affected: Jamia's students, especially those on hunger strike and those facing disciplinary action; teachers and staff; the university administration; and students at other central universities watching how such disputes are handled.

Questions and Answers