Jamia forms seven-member panel as students demand union restoration

Jamia Millia Islamia has appointed a seven-member committee to engage students protesting for union restoration. The initiative seeks an amicable end to a two-decade impasse while safeguarding campus peace.Newdelhi,Oct 19, 2026 17:04 ISTJamia Millia Islamia has formed a seven-member high-level committee to engage with protesting students, examine their demands and help restore normalcy on the campus, the university said on Monday, according to news agency Press Trust of India.Students have been protesting and holding a hunger strike to demand the restoration of the students' union, which was dissolved in 2006. The protests have brought the long-pending issue of student representation at the university back into focus.The decision to form the committee was taken at a meeting of senior university officials chaired by Vice-Chancellor Mazhar Asif on Sunday evening.The committee comprises senior deans and professors. It will hold discussions with the protesting students, address their grievances and take necessary steps to ensure peace on the campus, the university said in a statement. The administration said it was committed to resolving the matter through constructive dialogue and deliberations based on mutual trust and understanding. It also sought cooperation from the protesting students and other stakeholders.The university told PTI that students' union elections were discontinued in 2006 following repeated violent clashes, attacks on teachers and disruptions to classes. It also referred to a 2022 Delhi High Court order, saying the court had disposed of the matter without directing the university to conduct students' union elections. The current administration, which assumed office in October 2024, said it remained committed to finding an amicable resolution to the two-decade-old impasse.The university also highlighted the existing system of subject association elections in departments and centres. Under this system, students elect a vice-president, general secretary and joint secretary through secret ballots.The university appealed to students and other stakeholders to maintain peace and harmony on the campus and protect the institution's reputation and academic environment. The newly formed committee will seek to address the protesters' demand for restoring the students' union through dialogue.- Ends