Jamia Millia Islamia Sets May 2027 Deadline to Restore Students' Union
After a long standoff and a 15-day hunger strike, the university has agreed to finalise a students' union constitution by May 15, 2027, and to hold elections soon after the next session begins.
Students at Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi are celebrating after the university administration set May 15, 2027, as the deadline for approving and putting into effect a constitution for the students' union. The body was dissolved and has stayed inactive since 2006, so the decision is being read on campus as a route back to student self-governance.
Registrar Md. Mahtab Alam Rizvi said the administration had accepted all three of the students' main demands. The first is student representation in drafting the constitution. Under the revised process, representatives from every faculty will sit alongside professors and legal experts, so student views reach the committee directly rather than through faculty alone.
The draft will then go out to stakeholders for comment, undergo legal vetting, and move through the Academic Council and Executive Council before reaching the Visitor's nominee for final sign-off. The second demand is a timetable for elections, which the administration has pegged to within six weeks of the next academic session, roughly mid-July 2027. The third concerns disciplinary action: Rizvi said the administration had withdrawn penalties, including rustication, suspensions and show-cause notices, issued to students during the protests.
The turning point came after a hunger strike by student Rehan Mewati, who said his health was deteriorating before talks gained momentum. Islamic Union of Indian Muslim League MP Haris Beeran said he had been speaking with student representatives and the Vice Chancellor by phone for several days, and that the Vice Chancellor accepted the demands after meeting the Registrar and the Dean. Reports differ on how long the strike lasted, with some citing 15 days and others 18.
Why it matters: a university union is more than a notice board. It is the channel through which students raise hostel, fee and academic concerns and hold administrators to account. Restoring one after nearly two decades, with a fixed deadline and a democratic drafting process, sets a benchmark that other campuses will watch. Classes are also set to resume in person after the Diwali break, which ends on November 8, giving the process a practical start.
For more on the announcement, see the original report: NewKerala coverage of the Jamia students' union decision.