Once upon a time, Jamia Millia Islamia, especially its hostel, used to be a home away from home for the hundreds of students who would take admission to the prestigious academic institution each year.
But nowadays, the situation is starkly different. Students are forced to face unnecessary difficulties on a daily basis but there is no one to speak against it, as chances are that anyone daring to speak against the administration will invariably be slapped with a show cause notice.
This year, for the first time, the varsity administration closed all the hostels of the university completely during summer vacation. Provost office issued a notice in May stating, “those who wish to stay during summer vacation for their official training/project/field work etc. are instructed
to submit their application in the Warden Office, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam hostel, JMI latest by May 31, 2024 alongwith the letter of acceptance from the respective organization or project supervisor duly forwarded and recommended by the HoD and Dean concerned.”
A notice issued by the Jamia administration in May, asking students to vacate their hostel. Photo: Special Arrangement
Again, a notice was issued in the first week of June which reads as “If any student is found staying without permission after the permissible date then they will not be allowed for renewal of hostel accommodation for next session i.e 2024-25”.
A notice issued by the Jamia administration. Photo: Special Arrangement.
Difficulties for hostel students preparing for competitive exams
There are many students, mainly from the humanities background, who prepare for SSC CGL, UPSC or other government and competitive job exams. They come from their villages or small cities with a hope of finding a job after graduation.
Since there is no such thing as placement for the students from humanities background in the university, they don’t have any option left except preparing for competitive exams for jobs or entrance
examinations for higher studies.
These students of humanities background were denied permission to stay in the university hostels during summer vacation as they don’t have any official training/project/field work/internship as a part of their academic curriculum.
The students who were residing in the hostels, found that the hostel administration has locked their rooms with a new lock even though all their belongings were still inside the room.
Women residents were even asked to pay an additional charge of Rs. 100 per day for their stay in the hostels during summer vacation. A charge of Rs. 100 per day was levied on food. Food charge was voluntary for the male residents while the women were forced to pay their mess charge even though some of them were not be able to eat mess food because of their ongoing internships/projects.
Many students who came back to the hostels on the last day of summer vacation on July 15 were also denied permission to enter the hostels stating that they have not submitted the application to stay in the hostel duly approved by the concerned HoD/Dean.
According to the Academic Calendar released by the Office of Registrar, the next academic session after
summer vacation commenced from July 16 2024. Despite this, they were denied entry in
the hostels when they arrived just a day before. This is not short of any mental harassment.
Jamia had witnessed mass protests demanding reopening of varisity
This is not the first time when the draconian rules have been imposed on students by the Jamia administration. Before the university opened for the first time in 2022 after the Covid period, students saw a draconian face of the university administration.
Among all the other universities, Jamia was among the last varsities to open after the covid era among all the universities and colleges in Delhi. Delhi University opened after the covid pandemic in February 2022 while JNU had reopened way back in September 2021.
After the opening of DU, mass demonstrations started in Jamia campus demanding the reopening of the university as all major varsities in Delhi and in other parts of India had resumed their offline classes. Finally, the university opened its campus for the students later in 2022 after a shutdown of over 2 years and 3 months.
Hostels were allotted for the first time after the covid pandemic in February 2023, after 7 months of the reopening of the university . It was alleged that students who were the face of the protests were denied hostels.
The hostel renewal of the students who were already staying in the hostels before the Covid-19 pandemic and were a part of the protests were also rejected. They were told: “Humein Neta nhi chahiye apne hostel mein (we don’t want leaders in hostels)”.
Freshly admitted hostel residents were also told during their hostel interview that if they were a part of any type of protest, demonstration in the campus, their hostel allotment will be cancelled, and they will be vacated from their seats.
Ironically, Jamia is itself a product of the “Non-cooperation Movement”, a mass protest movement against the then regime, the British Colonial Government. Residents also faced an arbitrarily fee hike in the hostel annual fee. The fee was increased from the Rs. 29,300 charged in the pre-Covid era to Rs. 41,350, when hostels opened for the first time in 2022-23 after the pandemic. Now, it stands at Rs. 43,875, an increment of 49.74 per cent in only three active academic sessions.
Now in 2024, residents of the hostels are facing a different type of issue. In May, residents of the boys hostel found worms and insects in their hostel food on 3 different occasions. On May 14, a resident of Sir AM Khwaja hostel found a dead worm of approximately 1.5 inch in the food in the dinner.
On May 21, when the residents of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Hostel were having their lunch in the dining hall, a resident found a living white worm in the rice. On May 22, a resident of Sir AM Khwaja Hostel found a dead housefly in his Biryani during dinner. The above incidents are a clear violation of UGC guidelines on safety of students on and off campuses of higher educational institutions and FSSAI guidelines.
When the students objected about these incidents in the dining hall, the provost of the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Hall, Provost professor Mohd. Suhaib called a meeting with the residents. In the meeting, professor Suhaib assured that residents will get healthy and hygienic food from now on and a penalty was imposed on mess contractors for their misconduct.
Anti-student face of hostel administration
However, the hostel administration again showed their true anti-student face. Many residents were served show cause notice by way of Indian Post during the summer vacation as they raised their objection against the presence of insects in the hostel food. Now, the university hostel administration is not accepting the hostel renewal form of the residents who were arbitrarily given the show cause notice.
Non acceptance of renewal form means cancellation of hostel allotment. Jamia Millia Islamia is a university not a boarding school. In the campus of a university, students meet and interact with peers from different states, geographical areas, languages and religions.
Thus, it also acts as an institution of development of new civil societies. Individuals sit together and discuss their life, culture, and social problems. It helps them to broaden their perspective of life. Campus is a place where ideas develop. Students develop their own opinion about the ongoing national or international politics and thus help students to play a significant role after their study.
Many universities have produced national level politicians who are today playing a crucial role in the development of the nation. But the Jamia administration in August 2022 banned all types of meeting/gathering of students without prior permission of the proctor. It was a direct attack on the free flow of ideas in the university.
There is no need to mention that the same Jamia Millia Islamia was the epicentre of anti-CAA protest in 2019 and 2020. It was Jamia because of which anti-CAA protests reached in almost all the districts in India. But the same Jamia banned any type of meeting or gathering in the university.
The situation became worse when the proctorial staff started questioning even the gatherings for birthday celebrations. Earlier, university libraries never used to close on any holiday. Now it is common to close it on any random holiday. Students are not even allowed to enter the campus on Independence Day and Republic Day as its holiday in the university.
Even on the eve of last Republic Day, many students were assaulted by the proctorial team when they attempted to enter the campus. When being asked about the reason, security guards told: “Upar se order hai.. Kisi ko entry nahi dena hai (we have orders from above…we have been told to not let anyone enter”.
When the university started its physical class after the pandemic, the administration arbitrarily started removing anti-CAA protest faces from the campus. The university cancelled admission of its M.Phil scholar and one of the faces of anti-CAA protest, Safoora Zargar. Students protested in solidarity with Safoora Zargar and demanded re-admit Safoora.
Later, students participating in the protests were also slapped with show cause notice. Many other students who were also the faces of anti-CAA protest, never found their name in the entrance results list even after they secured marks above the cutoff line.
Residents of the hostels are not happy with this current hike of hostel fee, and they wanted to raise their voice. But, if they speak against this fee hike, they may be slapped with show cause notices and their hostel renewal forms may be rejected under the draconian rules made by the Jamia administration. Show cause notice is the new normal in the university.
Danish Shaikh is an alumni of JMI and law student at Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad.
