Jamia Millia issues campus ban on PhD scholar for repeated protests

In yet another disciplinary action against a student, the Jamia Millia Islamia administration has recently issued a “campus ban” on PhD scholar Saurabh Tripathi, stating that he was allegedly “disturbing the peace and tranquillity of the university campus” by taking part in protests.

The office order dated November 20 states that the Discipline Committee (DC), in its meeting held on October 8 and a subsequent meeting held on October 16, inquired into three “discipline cases” against the PhD scholar.

However, Jamia, in its order, stated that the DC took a “lenient view” by imposing a campus ban instead of rusticating him. It said that while the DC declared him guilty, valuable resources of the nation and significant efforts by the university are invested in him, and hence, he is being banned from entering college, instead of being expelled. It added that necessary meetings, such as supervisor-scholar meetings, will be arranged by the faculty concerned or the Proctor’s office.

Reacting to the campus ban, Mr. Tripathi, on Thursday, said, “It is all because I participated in three protests; one against a fee hike in Aligarh Muslim University, one regarding the issuance of admit cards, and a march to commemorate the Batla House encounter. It is not clear how I am to complete my PhD because I will not have access to the library.”

‘Attack on the dissent’

Hitting out at the university, All India Students’ Association (AISA) Jamia unit stated that the action against Mr. Tripathi was targeted.

“This is an attack on the dissent of the whole student community. This is not an isolated case; before Saurabh [Tripathi], many students faced campus bans and suspensions for participating in peaceful protests. AISA views the campus ban on Saurabh as a form of systematic oppression and a way of restricting students’ freedom of speech and expression at the university campus,” AISA Jamia unit said in a statement.

This is not the first time students have expressed concern over the university “curtailing their right to protest”. In October, the university declared that protests can take place only in an earmarked area. In February this year, the university issued suspension orders to 17 students for protesting “without permission” and “vandalising public property”, after a sit-in protest on the campus against the university’s order banning “protests without permission”, and an increasing number of show-cause notices to students for protesting.