Imran Masood among 10 detained near Jamia as student union protest enters 12th day

Delhi Police detained Congress MP Imran Masood and nine others near Jamia Millia Islamia on Friday, as a student agitation for the return of an elected students’ union at the central university entered its 12th day.

Masood had gone to the campus to meet students who have been on protest since 12 October, some of them on hunger strike. Police took him in as he stepped out of the university grounds and released him soon after. Samajwadi Party MP Mohibbullah Nadvi, a Jamia alumnus who represents Rampur, said police stopped him on his way to the protest and pushed him around. He too was later let go, and a video of his detention spread on social media.

Delhi Police did not comment on the detentions.

What the students want

Jamia has had no elected students’ union since 2006; the last election was held in 2005. The protesters want the Jamia Millia Islamia Students’ Union restored and a schedule announced for elections in the 2026-27 session. They also want disciplinary action against protesting students withdrawn, and they have raised hostel conditions, attendance rules, scholarships and research stipends.

“Our only demand is the restoration of the student union and its schedule,” said Jasim Ali, one of the students on hunger strike.

The university formed a seven-member committee after a meeting of senior officials, including Vice-Chancellor Mazhar Asif, on 18 October, to engage with the students and examine their demands. It has also begun drafting a new constitution for the union and promised to review the disciplinary cases. The students say none of this replaces a notification for elections.

Tension has grown since 17 October, when the authorities tried to clear demonstrators from the Ghalib lawn near Gate No. 7. Several student groups have since joined the protest, and CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas wrote to the Education Minister on 21 October in support of the students’ right to association.

A row over slogans

The administration has condemned slogans that appeared on campus walls, including “VC go back” and others referring to Kashmir and the RSS. It said it was trying to identify those responsible, had the writing removed with chemicals, and alleged that some CCTV cameras in the area had been tampered with. Students are now being checked before they enter departments and centres.

Masood said the slogans were meant to discredit the movement. “No slogans calling for a ‘free Kashmir’ were raised there, not a single one,” he said. “Kashmir is an integral part of India and will always remain so.” He alleged that “attempts are being made to derail this entire movement through these posters” and asked the police to act against whoever put them up.

Ali also rejected the slogans. “We completely refute this thing,” he said, and accused the administration of planting people among the protesters to end what he called a peaceful agitation.

Before he was detained, Masood turned to the university. “The students’ demands are justified. Why is the student union not being reinstated?” he said. “These students are the future of the country.”

By Friday night the students’ central demand, a notification for union elections, was still unmet.