By Mahmood Asim, TwoCircles.net
New Delhi: Students of Jamia Hamdard under the aegis of Hamdard Student Democratic Forum (HSDF) observing indefinite hunger strike since five days. Students observing strike allege authorities of rampant corruption and irregularities in the campus.
Jamia Hamdard was established in 1989 and is a deemed University and offers professional courses in nursing, medicine, and pharmacy, etc.
Two months ago also an agitation was carried out by the students. At that time authorites agreed to meet 12 demands of students including withdrawal of fee hike, stopping forcefully vacating the hostel, free wifi and health facilities and not to give sport complex and whole university in private hands. But instead of implementing these demands agreed in writing, authorities tried to silence the students by suspending 50 students and leveling huge fines on 28 of them ranging from Rs. five thousand to forty thousands. Students observing indefinite hunger strike are demanding to implement those promises and to revoke the suspensions and fines labeled upon them.
On the second day of the new round of agitation, health condition of two students worsened and they had to be admitted to the AIIMS emergency ward but they continued the strike. Later they were discharged and joined the agitation with same fervor.
On the fourth day, a new energy boosted the strike when a large number of female students of Hamdard joined the hunger strike. They also received solidarity from student community across the country. JNUSU, AMUSU, PUSU, AISF and Jamia Student Forum joined hand swith struggle of Hamdard student to get their democratic rights which had been denied for a long period.
Talking to TwoCircles.net, Mufti Iftekhar Ahmad, president of HSDF observing the hunger strike said that “we have a large solidarity across the campus around 150 male students and 70 female students are with us now”. Iftekhar said. When asked about authorities’ response iftekhar said, “Proctor, Provost, Deans along with Delhi Police personnel came to the venue but they have refused to talk about our demands in fact they refused to talk to the suspended students.”
But leaders of the strike are among the suspended students. Reacting to this Faheem Amhad of HSDF said that “we have been cheated by authorites earlier as they signed 12 points pact with us but nothing has been implemented yet, then no sense is to meet them.” Faheem told TCN, “We are not just students observing strike here but now we have guards of the university have also joined the struggle and it will help us more.”
On fifth day of the strike i.e. on Friday a large group from Jamia Millia Islamia Student Forum also joined the struggle in a call for student unity. General Secretary of Patna University Student Union Anshu Kumari have also joined the hands and now she is on strike with Hamdard students. CPI MP D. Raja visited the venue and while addressing the gathering he expressed his solidarity with students. Later he also met with authorites to sort out the problem.
Attempts by this reporter to talk to Vice Chancellor and Registrar didn’t succeed as they didn’t answer calls to them.