Jamia Millia Islamia threatens to cancel Safoora Zargar’s admission, student associations come out in support

Safoora took to Twitter stating that she has been made to wait for extensions that are easily given to other scholars in the university
Safoora Zargar (Pic: Twitter)
Safoora Zargar (Pic: Twitter)

Student associations have come out in support of Safoora Zargar, a student activist and research scholar at Jamia Millia Islamia, after she claimed that the university has threatened to cancel her MPhil admission in a “discriminatory” move. 

In a series of tweets, multiple student associations, like the All India Students’ Association (AISA) - Jamia Millia Islamia, National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), Campus Front of India (CFI) - Jamia Millia Islamia and others, have condemned the move by the university to threaten to cancel her admission. They stated in a letter that was shared widely on Twitter that Safoora was enrolled in the MPhil/PhD programme at the Department of Sociology in the university in February 2019 and completed three years in February 2022. 

“As per ordinances, she can be given an additional year of extension available to woman scholars, which she has been denied on the grounds of ‘unsatisfactory process’,” the letter added. The student associations also said that Safoora was also earlier denied a COVID-19 extension, which can be granted in accordance with the rules laid out by the University Grants Commission (UGC).  

“Safoora’s supervisor and the department have been hostile towards her requests, terming her rightful requests as ‘adamancy’ and ‘rudeness’. Her emails to the Registrar and Vice-Chancellor have remained unanswered,” they stated in the letter. 

While standing in solidarity with Safoora, the student associations condemned the university’s “vengeful action” against the scholar who went through a pregnancy during the pandemic and yet managed to complete her fieldwork and other requirements of the course, they said. 

Safoora too took to Twitter stating that she has been made to wait for extensions that are easily given to other scholars in the university. “Despite three waves of COVID, a pregnancy, a severe state attack, jail time and severe COVID infections in the family, I completed my fieldwork. I submitted all my progress reports on time. But at the fag end of my thesis, I am being denied submission,” she said in a tweet.

Safoora Zargar is an Indian student activist leader from Jammu and Kashmir who was booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for her alleged role in the Northeast Delhi riots in 2020.

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