Jamia Millia Islamia Publishes List of Suspended Students Amid Protests
On Friday, February 14, the Jamia Millia Islamia administration published lists of 17 students who were allegedly part of the current protests across the campus. Some of the students listed also received suspension notices from the university.
The protest comes after demonstrations against showcause letters issued to PhD students for protesting “without permission” in December last year, which have been ongoing across the institution since Monday. The demonstration was to mark the anniversary of the Delhi police’s 2020 campus invasion and subsequent attacks on students during the citizenship law protests.
Delhi police arrested a minimum of 14 students who were protesting on February 13. Between February 12 and 13, several students had received suspension letters from the chief proctor’s office in the university.
The suspension notice read:
You were found on February 10, 2025, to be leading a noisy and ruckus group of individuals who vandalized and graffiti-ed university property. Further, on February 11, 2025, you again participated in an unlawful and unauthorized protest on the JMI campus, which created a ruckus and hindered the normal functioning of the university, resulting in grave inconvenience to other students, teachers, and officials.
Meanwhile, the released lists contain the suspended students’ personal data such as email addresses, phone numbers, and political affiliations. They spread in different places all over the campus.
Student Reactions: Jyoti Kumari Speaks Out Against Threats and Violations of Rights
“Our lives have been put in danger by the way the administration released our pictures and personal details publicly. We can possibly be murdered or lynched,” said Hindi department PhD aspirant Jyoti Kumari on the list. Jyoti alleged that after the release of the names, she began to receive “threatening” calls to her residence from “unknown individuals.”
She continued, “It is also a violation of our rights.” “Does a university get personal information to publicize it and put our lives at risk?”
“I will not provide an apology of any form.”
PhD Students Saurabh Tripathi and Jyoti Kumari: Background on Show-Cause Notices
PhD students Saurabh Tripathi and Jyoti were issued show-cause notices by the Jamia administration on December 16, 2024, for holding a protest demonstration on campus during the day on December 16, “without permission.”
Students from Jamia march annually on December 15 to remember Delhi police who stormed the campus and assaulted students in 2020 during the CAA-NRC protests. The authorities, Saurabh said, shut down the campus for “repairs” on December 15, 2024. On December 16, some of the students took out a march, and within hours, two of them were issued show-cause notices.
As per Saurabh, he returned with a “seven-page reply” to his showcause notice. He was later told that the administration was “not satisfied” and asked him to appear on February 25 before a disciplinary commission.
“We did not know what part of our answer they did not like,” he said. We were still summoned to testify before the disciplinary committee despite this. After discussing this with other students, we decided not to attend. On campus, such anti-student behavior cannot be tolerated. This is why we decided to fast as a protest against the administration’s arbitrariness instead of testifying before the committee.
Saurabh and some others demonstrated in front of the university’s main gate on February 10. He said that prior to going to the library to stage an “indefinite strike,” they also burned a copy of the notice to appear before the committee. He had around 25 to 30 children with him on that day, but by February 11, they were nearly 400.
Umehabbeeba Qaudri: A First-Year Student’s Stand for Constitutional Rights
On 13th February, the police arrested some of the students at around five in the morning.
Umehabbeeba Qaudri, a Telangana first-year BA Honors student, explained that she was suspended among the students who participated in the demonstration a few days back. She asserted that she is “in favor of constitutional rights,” which is the reason why she participated.
She explained in Hindi, “I thought the decision by this administration was one step in attacking those rights.” Also, I believed whatever was done to those students was wrong.
Umehabbeeba was arrested on February 13 by the Delhi police too. She explained that she belonged to no student organization and was simply criticizing “injustice” as an individual student.
“The Jamia students are Bhagat Singh followers,” Habiba announced after being suspended. We will not bow to the despotism of this administration or make an apology of any sort. We are being suspended in an attempt to breach our rights and trigger violence on campus.
A third student, who did not want to be named, accepted that they were suspended and had been arrested by the police. The student told that the police also phoned them at home as they were worried about the suspension and were expecting no action after the showcause notice.