Stop the Political Witch-Hunt of Activists & Students Fighting for Democratic Rights! Revoke All Suspensions Immediately! Open the Main Gate & End Campus Garrisoning!
All India Students’ Association (AISA) strongly condemns the vindictive, cowardly, and arbitrary suspension of 11 students including the majority of the AISA-led Ambedkar University Delhi Student Council (AUDSC) Karampura by the AUD Administration. On September 28, the AUDSC Karampura called for an indefinite sit-in to demand basic student necessities, administrative accountability, and democratic rights on campus. For 17 consecutive days, councillors and students stood in peaceful defiance against an authoritarian administration, raising legitimate questions regarding the systemic neglect of the university. The charter of demands directly tackled the ongoing infrastructural crisis, the urgent need for faculty recruitment, the complete rollback of the draconian July 31 circulars, the reinstatement of the PhD fee waiver, student representation across all decision-making bodies, and the dismantling of iron gates to reopen the main front gate. While sustained resistance forced the administration to take initial, reluctant steps toward addressing faculty recruitment and basic repairs, the student collective refused to back down on the structural garrisoning of the university. Protesters continued to resist the barricading, demanding the immediate opening of the main gate to ensure safety and accessibility.
Brute Violence on Day 16: Suppressing Ambedkar on Ambedkar’s Campus,On the night of October 13 (Day 16), the administration resorted to sheer violence against students whose only “offence” was organizing a screening of Anand Patwardhan’s acclaimed documentary, Jai Bhim Comrade, at the Wall of Democracy. Security guards tore down screening sheets and posters, physically assaulted students, choked, manhandled, and harassed women students, leaving several with broken nails, torn clothing, and physical bruises. When physical intimidation failed, the administration arbitrarily plunged the entire campus into darkness by shutting off electricity at 6:00 PM. When students confronted Security Officer Dharmendra Kumar over this brazen violence, he refused accountability and unleashed further brutality. Com. Ali was singled out, physically assaulted with heavy boots, and subjected to direct communal threats targeting his identity, academic career, and life. Denial of Essentials, Police High-Handedness, and Midnight Suspensions
Instead of engaging in dialogue across 17 days of peaceful sit-in, the AUD administration chose to wage a war of attrition against its own students:
- Starvation & Physical Assaults: Basic food supplies were systematically blocked from entering the campus. Security personnel threw away food and brutally attacked students bringing in meals. This included a severe assault on Com. Aameen—a PhD scholar who had previously undergone a 23-day hunger strike at Jantar Mantar demanding the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan—who suffered serious head injuries and had to be rushed to the emergency hospital, where the entry of ambulance was denied into campus.
- Campus Lockouts & Hostage Tactics: Students were subjected to arbitrary 4-day detentions, and the campus was suddenly shut down on October 3 and 4 without prior notice—even during examination days. Students were forced out onto the unsafe Madrasa Road, directly exposing them to the very safety hazards they were protesting against.
- Midnight Police Action: On the night of October 14 (Day 17), the administration brought in heavy police and paramilitary forces, including CRPF personnel. Protesting students were violently dragged off, their tents and materials thrown away, and arbitrary suspension letters were handed down at 8:00 PM without any show-cause notice, proctorial inquiry, or chance for defense.
A Systematic Pattern of State Repression Across Campuses*
This arbitrary crackdown on 11 students—including AUDSC KP Treasurer Vivek, Councillors Mrinalini, Adwitiya, Saurabh, and Shubham, AUDSC LR Councillor Jigyasa (MA Education), former councillors Ali (BA Law & Politics), Blessy (MA Sociology) and Aameen (PhD Urban Studies), alongside other student activists—is a blatant political witch-hunt. Several suspended students were not even physically present at the site on the alleged dates, proving that the charges of “gate-breaking” are fabricated charges meant to end the peaceful indefinite sit-in and paralyze of the student council activity. A second year student, Piyush was not physically present a single day of the indefinite sit-in had also been suspended. Previously, last year too, the AUD admin had suspended students – Com Mantasha for disbursing political pamphlet which criticized the AUD VC and councillors from the student council including AUDSC KG Treasurer Sharanya and PhD CC Member Shubojeet amongst other student activists. This weaponization of state institutions, deploying police and paramilitary inside university premises to crush democratic dissent, is not an isolated incident. We are witnessing a dangerous pattern across higher education institutions in India—from Jamia Millia Islamia to IIT Bombay, and now Ambedkar University Delhi. Campuses are being converted into open-air prisons where democratic space is systematically dismantled, and student voices are met with force rather than dialogue.
We demand:
- Immediate and unconditional revocation of all 11 arbitrary suspensions and withdrawal of false charges.
- Immediate reopening of the main front gate and complete removal of interior iron gates and garrisoning.
- An independent, transparent inquiry into the physical assault and communal threats made by Security Officer Dharmendra Kumar and security personnel & the Proctor Prof Satyaketu Sankrit for misuse of power and illegal suspensions
- Immediate halt to the entry of police and paramilitary forces inside university premises.
- Full rollback of the draconian July 31 circular and fulfillment of the entire AUDSC Demand Charter, mainly opening of the main gate of the campus due to safety issues.
AISA declares that no amount of administrative coercion, police intimidation, or fabricated suspensions will silence the struggle for an egalitarian, democratic, and accessible university.
We call upon the student community, faculty, and democratic organizations across the country to unite against this political witch-hunt and join the struggle to reclaim AUD! AISA AUD
