Jamia Orders Student Union Polls Within 15 Days of Constitution Approval

Jamia Millia Islamia ordered on Monday, October 26, 2026, that student union elections be held within fifteen days of approval of the union’s constitution.

By Career Ahead AI · India — AI-assisted, fact-verified against cited sources. Readers should verify key facts.

The election timetable depends on constitution approval

Registrar Md Mahtab Alam Rizvi issued the order. It says the election is to be held fifteen days after the constitution is approved. The order does not set a deadline for forming or approving that constitution, leaving the start of the election timetable open. Students had sought a fixed schedule for restoring the Jamia Millia Islamia Students’ Union, whose elections have not been held since 2006.^¹²³⁴

A committee to draft the JMISU constitution had been notified on October 21. The constitution is therefore a step that must precede the election timetable set out in the order. The primary demand of the hunger strike was a fixed timeline for restoring the union, which has remained dissolved since 2006. The order specifies when polls follow approval, but does not say when the approval process must finish.^¹²³⁴⁵

Students had sought a fixed schedule for restoring the Jamia Millia Islamia Students’ Union, whose elections have not been held since 2006.¹²³⁴

Protesters sought a schedule and an inquiry

Students had been protesting since October 11 for restoration of the union. Four students had gone on an indefinite hunger strike over that demand, while other protesters sought a time-bound election schedule, withdrawal of disciplinary action and an inquiry into alleged excesses by security personnel. The university considered a demand letter submitted by students on hunger strike and their delegates before issuing its decisions.^¹²³⁴⁵

Registrar Rizvi arrived on campus around four-thirty in the morning on Monday for talks with protesters, according to the Jammu & Kashmir Students Association. The administration said a seven-member committee of professors had held multiple rounds of talks with them. Tensions had risen the previous day, Sunday, October 25, when attempts were made to forcibly remove protesting students.^¹²³⁴

During the protest period, classes were suspended, water facilities on campus were cut off, and entry and exit were not allowed. The university had also shifted classes across courses to online mode and advised students against visiting campus. It announced that campus gates and libraries would remain closed until further notice.^¹²³⁴⁵

The order revoked notices and required an apology

The university revoked suspension and show-cause notices issued to students during the protest. It also asked students to apologise for defamatory remarks against the administration. Under the order, protesting students agreed to issue a public apology at a press conference for defamatory statements, actions or social media posts made during the agitation. The order said those posts were to be taken down from social media platforms immediately.^¹²³⁴⁵

The order stated that the protest would be called off immediately after it was issued. The students’ letter, however, said they would call off the hunger strike and sit-in only after receiving a written agreement from the administration accepting their demands. The two statements set out different conditions for ending the protest: the order described an immediate end, while the students’ letter tied it to written acceptance.^¹²³⁴⁵

Students said the order left key demands unresolved

Two students continued their hunger strike, citing the absence of assurances on the resignation of the Vice-Chancellor and the Chief Proctor. Protesting students rejected the order as ambiguous and said the agitation would continue until their demands were addressed through clear, written commitments. The Jammu & Kashmir Students Association said the order set no definite timeline for approval of the constitution and did not address the demand for the proctor’s resignation.^¹²³⁴⁵

The university had also shifted classes across courses to online mode and advised students against visiting campus.

Ebin, a hunger striker who had been on strike for fifteen days, said the order referred to suspension and show-cause notices but did not resolve the situation of students barred from campus and rusticated. Ebin said hunger strikers had also been banned from campus and rusticated. The order’s withdrawal of notices therefore did not address every disciplinary measure raised by the protesting students.^¹²³⁴⁵