A protest by Jamia Millia Islamia students demanding the reopening of their hostel

On Wednesday, Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) students demonstrated outside the vice chancellor’s office, calling for the hostel to reopen. On July 18, 2022, the university resumed offline classes for the academic session 2022–2023 for all students, with the exception of first-year students.

However, first-year student classes started up again on August 1 of 2022. Hostels “were not yet open for students” a month after offline lessons resumed, they claimed.

The students who were demonstrating in front of the university claimed, “We waited for the JMI registrar for five hours but were unable to meet. Several students who were fasting joined the demonstration as well. The registrar spent seven hours on campus, yet he was unable to make time for the pupils. Students who were protesting were barred from entering or leaving the school. The student claimed, “We don’t know if the registrar will visit us,” and added that Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) have opened their dorms to students while the “JMI administration is still sleeping.”

Waseem Khan, the JMI proctor, told PTI in February that the renovation of the hostels will take time before the university reopened for offline classes on March 2. Fourth-semester student Abdul Wahid Rahmani previously stated that the administration could have easily prepared the hostels for students but that the “intention was lacking.” He had previously told PTI, “They want to avoid the reopening as long as possible. The hostel system in Jamia is very well organised, and they had plenty of time to prepare the rooms.