Representative image. Redmyname31, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Why it matters
Jamia students face online classes and campus access restrictions while the dispute over an elected students' union is unresolved. The university has announced a constitution-drafting process; the reports reviewed give no election date. The police case records allegations, not a finding.
The Jamia protest over a students’ union in New Delhi has brought tighter campus restrictions and a police case. Delhi Police have registered a First Information Report (FIR), the formal record that starts a police investigation, on a complaint from Jamia Millia Islamia that alleges trespass on the campus, an Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police told The Hindu. The case was reported on Sunday, 25 October 2026.
Since Saturday, all classes at the central university have moved online “until further notice”, and on Sunday Delhi Police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel guarded the gates while students tried to get back in, The Hindu reported.
What the trespass FIR says
The officer, the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police for South East Delhi, said the complaint came from the university’s Economics department and named MPs, political leaders, students and former students who, it said, tried to trespass on campus property. The FIR lists criminal trespass, wrongful confinement and voluntarily causing hurt under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), India’s criminal code, the officer said, along with sections of the Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act.
The officer’s account quoted by The Hindu did not identify the MPs or specify which charge applies to each person. A complaint and the police case that follows it are different records. An FIR records allegations; it is not a finding that anyone committed an offence.
Why Jamia students want their union back
Jamia Millia Islamia has had no elected students’ union since 2006, news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) reported; the agency says the last union elections were held in 2005. Students want the Jamia Millia Islamia Students’ Union (JMISU) restored and an election schedule announced. The Hindu dates their sit-in from 11 October, and PTI says an indefinite hunger strike began on 12 October.
Students have also raised complaints about hostels, attendance rules, scholarships and research stipends, Outlook reported. The university has set up a committee to draft a constitution for the students’ union, The Indian Express reported. That report gave no election date. Protesters also want disciplinary action against students withdrawn.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Sanjay Yadav wrote to Vice-Chancellor Mazhar Asif asking for the students’ union to be restored on a fixed timetable and disciplinary action against protesters withdrawn, PTI reported.
In that letter, Yadav pointed to Jawaharlal Nehru University and Delhi University, which hold students’ union elections under the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations, a set of rules for running campus polls, and said Jamia could adopt a similar framework. He also asked for medical care for students on hunger strike and for talks between the administration and students, according to the PTI-based report.
Jamia protest timeline: from hunger strike to locked gates
The table below joins the dates reported by PTI and The Hindu.
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Last students’ union elections, according to PTI; no elected union since 2006 |
| 11 October 2026 | Sit-in for the union begins, according to The Hindu |
| 12 October | Indefinite hunger strike begins, according to PTI |
| 17 October | Authorities try to remove protesters from the Ghalib lawn near Gate No. 7 |
| 24 October | More than 1,500 staff, led by the Vice-Chancellor, march to the protest site; tent removed, power and water cut on campus, classes moved online |
| 25 October | Gates barricaded; students climb gates; three people detained; police confirm an FIR on the university’s complaint (reported that day) |
What the university and the students say
The two sides describe Saturday very differently. The university said more than 1,500 teaching and non-teaching staff, with Vice-Chancellor Mazhar Asif and Registrar Md Mahtab Alam Rizvi, appealed to the protesters for over two hours to end the sit-in. It alleged that some students pushed security guards, staff and teachers, after which the staff withdrew, The Tribune reported.
Students gave a different account to The Indian Express. They alleged that the delegation tried to take down their tents and move hunger strikers to hospital. The report said the students then moved the hunger strikers inside the Political Science building and locked themselves in to prevent security staff from reaching them.
A Jamia administration official told The Hindu there was no reason for students to stay on campus now that teaching was online, and that students were being informally asked to go home for the festive season. The police officer quoted by The Hindu said two women detained on Sunday had no link to the university and were released before sunset, while a third person was held under preventive detention.
The university has also condemned slogans painted on campus walls and said it was trying to identify those responsible, PTI reported. The agency said it could not independently verify photographs circulated online.
The administration has pointed to two separate committees as steps towards resolving the standoff. The Tribune reported that a seven-member committee formed on 18 October had held four rounds of talks. A second committee, notified on 21 October, was tasked with drafting a constitution for the students’ union. A committee and a draft constitution do not themselves set an election date.
The university said disciplinary action related to the protest would be reviewed, according to the newspaper. The Indian Express reported that protesters still wanted an election schedule and the withdrawal of disciplinary action. The two accounts show why the administration’s announced process had not settled the students’ demand for a dated poll notification.
What happens next at Jamia Millia Islamia
Classes remain online with no return date given in the university’s announcement, as reported by The Tribune. Police said the man held under preventive detention would be produced before a Special Executive Magistrate, an official who handles such cases, on Monday, 26 October. The reports reviewed gave no next step in the FIR and no date for students’ union elections.
Frequently asked questions
Why are Jamia students protesting?
They want the Jamia Millia Islamia Students' Union restored with an announced election schedule. Jamia has had no elected union since 2006, and the university has set up a committee to draft a union constitution.
What does the Jamia FIR say?
A police officer told The Hindu it lists criminal trespass, wrongful confinement and causing hurt under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, India's criminal code, plus defacement of property sections, on a complaint naming MPs, leaders, students and former students. The officer did not name them.
Are Jamia classes online?
Yes. The university moved all courses online with immediate effect on 24 October 2026, until further notice.