Day after cops detained Jamia students, personal details of protesters put up at university gates

The students, suspended for protesting against disciplinary action against 2 PhD scholars, claim they are now receiving anonymous threat calls & slam the university for allegedly displaying their names.

Security heightened outside Jamia Millia Islamia | ANI

New Delhi: A day after more than 10 students of Jamia Millia Islamia were detained by the Delhi Police while they were protesting disciplinary action against two PhD scholars, the administration has allegedly pasted personal details of all students suspended over the protests on campus notice boards as well as the university’s main gate.

According to Jamia students, these details include the phone numbers, addresses, email IDs, course and photographs of the suspended students, as well as which Left organisations they are associated with. 

The protests were a response to the university’s action against the two PhD scholars for organising a demonstration on 16 December to mark the anniversary of the 2019 anti-CAA protest at Jamia.

Several suspended students, who are allegedly not being allowed to enter the university campus, told ThePrint that they have been receiving anonymous threat calls, besides alleged calls from Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) leaders since morning. They said they are now worried about their safety.

“There is always trust between the university and the student. They cannot make our data public like this, but they did and breached our trust. Rambhakt Gopal randomly opened fire during the anti-CAA protests. We fear we will be targeted in a similar manner,” said Saurabh, one of the suspended students, adding that the “atrocities” are being carried out by the Jamia administration itself.

The students have formally written to the university administration, including the chief proctor, but have not received a response yet. 

Saurabh said the students also moved the Delhi High Court against the university Friday. “We have also decided to storm X and the administration with emails. We are hoping that something will be done immediately.”

Sonakshi Gupta, another suspended student, told ThePrint that the administration has risked the safety of students, especially the women, by making these details public. “This is a blatant attack on us. As a woman, I feel extremely unsafe. They have put out the details of Muslim women. You know how they are attacked and harassed online. We are receiving nasty messages,” said Gupta. “If anything happens to anyone, the university will be solely responsible for it.”

Social activist Shabnam Hashmi took to X and called the move “a clear act of vendetta by the Jamia administration”, and a “gross violation of the privacy of students”.

In a clear act of vendetta by the Jamia admin, it has pasted phone & addresses of the protesting students outside Jamia's gates for everyone to see in gross violation of the privacy of students.

Shame on the Jamia administration. Remove this notice immediately. @jmiu_official pic.twitter.com/F9u6ht7Vni

— Shabnam Hashmi (@ShabnamHashmi) February 14, 2025

Congress MP Kunwar Danish Ali also posted on X, calling the move “disturbing”, and a “vindictive step”.

It’s so disturbing to see the pictures of the protesting students with their phone numbers and addresses, displaying outside the university gates. The Jamia administration should avoid taking such vindictive steps, violating students privacy. ⁦@jmiu_official⁩ ⁦ pic.twitter.com/GaNk0Lxk18

— Kunwar Danish Ali (@KDanishAli) February 14, 2025

ThePrint reached Chief Media Coordinator Quamrul Hassan and Delhi Police PRO Sanjay Tyagi via calls for comment. This report will be updated if and when they respond.

Why were students protesting

The students had been staging a three day sit-in protest on campus this week over the university’s action against the PhD scholars, when Delhi Police entered the campus, allegedly without permission, and used tear gas and batons on students in the library and hostels.

Early Thursday, the police, students alleged, took the protesters from campus to different police stations across Delhi. “We got to know at 5 am that they were forcibly taken to different police stations. When we went to Kalkaji police station, we were first told they were there, then denied access,” Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union president Dhananjay told ThePrint.

In an official statement, the university confirmed that the students were removed, accusing them of disrupting academic activities, damaging property, and obstructing access to the Central Library and classrooms ahead of mid-semester exams.

“These handful of students have in the last two days vandalised university property, including the central canteen and also broken the gate of the security adviser forcing the JMI administration to take action. They have violated other university rules and were found carrying objectionable contraband items,” the statement read.

The university added that it has taken preventive measures “so that the university continues to conduct classes and other academic activities as normal”.

“Taking preventive measures, this morning the university administration and the Proctorial team removed the students from the site of the protest and they have been evicted from the campus. The police have been requested to maintain a law and order situation,” the statement further said.

‘Have right to hold peaceful gathering’

Protesters, however, refuted the university’s claims, arguing that the administration was suppressing democracy within the campus. “This is a huge violation of our rights. We called for an indefinite sit-in until the disciplinary committee’s notice was revoked,” said Anjali, a second-year Master’s student.

Since the 2019 anti-CAA protests, Anjali said, students have gathered on 15 December every year to protest against the violence against students that day. This year, however, the students were informed that the university would be closed on that day for maintenance, which is why they decided to hold the demonstration on 16 December.

Soon after, four students received a show cause notice, Anjali added, and on responding to the notice, they were informed that their reply was “unsatisfactory”.

“After that, they called for a protest because Sourabh (one of the students who received show cause notice) received a notice from the disciplinary committee. This is a huge violation of campus democracy,” she told ThePrint. “The office should revoke the notice stating that there is a protest and gathering on campus. These are our main demands.”

Peaceful protests were conducted for three days, the student said further.

“Everybody was a student there. There was strict ID card checking at gate no. 7. No non-students could enter. Around 50 students were waiting the whole night. It was a very quiet time,” she said.

On 11 February, Anjali said that an advisory was released that asked students to leave the canteen area and accused them of “illegally” occupying the area. Moreover, she added, washrooms were locked and lights at the campus were turned off. However, the protest still went on for the third day. “At night, some students were given suspension notices and sent emails. Early in the morning, people were detained,” she said.

Anjali said that while campus democracy gives students a chance to ask critical questions, when such a crackdown happens, it takes away the space to think critically. “When we go to talk to them, no one listens to us. So we have a protest as a last resort,” she said.

The university is surrounded by hundreds of police officials and riot control vehicles, she said. “Jamia feels like a military camp,” she said, adding that the students want the administration to ensure that the office memorandum, which violates students’ rights, should be removed. “We have a right to hold a peaceful gathering.”

Saurabh, one of the four students who received the show cause notice, also recounted the sequence of events. He told ThePrint, “We organised the sit-in protest to show resistance against the administration’s move. We don’t have the right to express what we feel. This is unconstitutional.”

The intention behind organising the protest was to remind the administration of their “brutality” on the students that had happened in 2019, he said. “The whole situation is a shameful act by the administration. This is undemocratic. Jamia is working like an authoritative regime at this point.”

Political hub

In October last year, President Droupadi Murmu appointed Mazhar Asif, a professor at JNU, as the 16th vice chancellor of Jamia. The post had been lying vacant since November 2023.

Asif’s stint at JNU was marked by controversy. In 2017, the university’s teachers’ association had challenged his appointment to the faculty. Then, in January 2020, JNUSU had accused several faculty members, including Asif, of inciting violence during a clash on campus that month that had left over 30 students injured.

Now, as Jamia witnesses its first major protest since the 2019 anti-CAA protest, followed by the detainment of protesters, many students believe that Asif wants to “make Jamia another JNU”.

“He always had a problem with the students of Left organisations. He has always attacked the students of the Left. When he came, on the day of his appointment, he took a photo with the students of ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad),” said Sonakshi Gupta, one of the students suspended Wednesday night. As a student, Asif was a member of ABVP, the student wing of Bharatiya Janata Party.

“While you are saying that Left organisations are not allowed here, protests are not allowed, political activities are not allowed, you are posing for a photo with the goons of ABVP,” said Gupta, referring to an incident where Asif was accused of interacting with ABVP members.

Commenting on her suspension, Gupta said that she was not given a chance to defend herself even though she did not give a speech during the protest and barely attended it. She said that while the protests over the past three days were peaceful, students will now be scared.

JMI has been a significant centre of student activism and protests for years. The university, known for its history of political awareness and social engagement, has witnessed several major demonstrations, including the anti-CAA protests, and the Kashmir solidarity protests after abrogation of Article 370. “I think today is the day we will find out if Jamia’s democracy will survive or not,” Gupta remarked.

(Edited by Mannat Chugh)