New Delhi, September 18, 2022: The Indian administration in Jamia Millia New Delhi has banned research scholar and activist Safoora Zargar from entering the university campus, days after her MPhil admission was canceled in the university. Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, which is under the influence of Hindutva BJP-RSS governmnet. She was removed as a student on 29 August, 2022 Safoora Zargar and other Jamia students had been participating in protests demanding that she be re-admitted and that she be given an extension to submit her thesis.
In an office order by the chief proctor of the university dated 14 September, the protests, as per a report by The Quint, were cited as the reason for banning Zargar from the campus.
Moreover, in a separate notice to students, the university proctor has written that the participation of multiple students in protests in support of Zargar “is a gross violation of Jamia’s rules and regulations, and viewed separately by the Jamia authorities. Therefore, you are hereby directed to explain in writing why disciplinary action should not be taken against you”.
Zargar was booked under the draconian law, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), in April 2020 for participating in massive demonstrations against controversial Citizenship Amendment Act. She was granted bail on humanitarian grounds in June 2020 - she was pregnant at the time.
On 24 August this year, Zargar spoke about how Jamia is threatening to cancel her MPhil admission. She was enrolled in the university’s Department of Sociology in the integrated MPhil and PhD programme and the subject of her research is, ‘Socio-Spatial Segregation of Muslims in Urban Areas,’ which she began in 2019, reads the report.
Days later, on 29 August, the university canceled her admission. An activist and scholar, Zargar made headlines due to her alleged involvement in the anti-CAA protests after the Citizenship Amendment Act was passed by the BJP government in Indian Parliament in December 2019.
Besides Zargar, the orders have been issued against two more students of Jamia Millia Islamia, it said.
While the language in the orders against the two former students is similar, the notification against Zargar mentions her involvement in organising agitations, protests and marches on the campus “against theCitizenship Amendment Act and other draconian laws imposed by BJP government.
Zargar has refused to comment on the campus ban.
She along with several other students has been staging protests against the cancellation of her admission.
“Safoora Zargar is an ex-student of M. Phil, Dept. of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences. She is one of the arrested student in 2020 booked under black law Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), 1967 by Delhi Police.
Her name was removed from M. Phil as a student of Jamia Millia Islamia by Indian authorities.