New Delhi: Students affiliated with Left parties and the NSUI staged demonstrations at Jamia Millia Islamia Tuesday, holding placards that read “RSS go back” and “Jamia is not your shakha” to protest the organisation of an RSS-linked programme on campus.
Nearly a hundred students, largely from the All India Students’ Association (AISA), Students Federation of India (SFI) and other Left-affiliated student organisations, gathered outside the auditorium on campus to oppose the programme organised to mark a hundred years of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
ThePrint reached Jamia Millia Islamia administration for comment via phone calls and text messages but had not received a response by the time of publication.
Ankit, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad’s general secretary on campus, told ThePrint that the RSS-affiliated students’ body organised the programme in Delhi University colleges and the Jawaharlal Nehru University to initiate a conversation. “We’re told the campus is a safe space, and there should be protests but why would one threaten students?” he asked.
He added that the programme was called Yuva Kumbh, which hosted around 70-80 people, including students from campus and speakers. The Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia and the Proctor were also present, he said.
Navdeep Singh, a Faculty of Law student associated with ABVP, said he was inside the auditorium where the event was organised. “I was inside when the students were protesting. The speakers at the event were only enlightening the students about the role of youth in contemporary times, and how the RSS sees the youth.”
Calling the event ‘peaceful’ Navdeep said, “The speakers discussed various issues pertaining to the youth. The way the protests took place was wrong. One should welcome wisdom from everywhere.”
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No student was detained: Police
Protesting students raised slogans like: “RSS go back”, “RSS ki chhaati par, Birsa Phule Ambedkar”, “Jai Bhim”, “Manuwad se azadi” and “RSS ho barbaad, murdabad”.
Among the protesters was Faizan, president of the Congress-affiliated National Students’ Union of India’s Jamia unit. “Like me, many students from AISA, SFI, NSUI stood there to protest the event. We stand against RSS. All we had to do was to ask the administration, why was this organised?” said Faizan, who is pursuing a PG Diploma.
He added that the protests on campus were contained to Gate 18, “but to host an event for RSS, the main auditorium has been designated; why the discrimination?”
NOT AN INCH BACK!
NO SPACE FOR RSS IN JAMIA!!
Sfi jamia and other student organisations who were peacefully protesting were assaulted and beaten up by the university guards as instructed by the RSS-BJP admin nexus of the university. pic.twitter.com/YHC8UuwNl9
— SFI- Jamia Millia Islamia (@JmiSfi) April 28, 2026
Faizan said that every time students organise a protest, or even a study circle, the police are summoned. “The guards on campus keep an eye on us. And this goes unnoticed?”
Faizan and others continued with their protest while the programme went ahead. “Students were pushed by the security guards,” Faizan alleged.
Atik Ur Rehman, an MA student affiliated with SFI, claimed that there was no official poster for the event but invites were sent on WhatsApp. The topic, according to the invite, was “role of youth in nation building”.
“Why are 100 years being celebrated on campuses? This is our space, and there is no need for RSS on campus. We will not tolerate any kind of communal tension,” said Rehman.
A senior police officer from South East District said that police were present outside the campus as a precautionary measure but the situation remained calm. “No student was detained, the students dispersed after the event. The situation is normal.”
AISA, in a statement Tuesday said, “AISA along with other progressive organisations of Jamia joined together to reject the programme held by RSS under the title of Yuva Kumbh. Across universities RSS holds these programmes with the same banner, claiming a legacy of 100 years of nation-building and progress.”
“RSS who took no role in the freedom movement and even collaborated openly with the British colonisers today is distributing the card of nationalism only in order to consolidate its power. Our legacy of martyrs and freedom fighters fought for the democratic, secular India that stands united against the RSS today, whether in Jamia or beyond,” the statement added. It went on to say, “From the morning, heavy police deployment and heightened security turned the campus into a militarised zone to facilitate a single RSS event.”
Adding, “Although the administration managed to conduct the event for around half an hour, it directed university guards to violently suppress the protest. Over 50 students were injured in the crackdown, with several beaten by guards.”
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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