Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) on Friday, October 9, announced the schedule for its Students’ Union elections, the first since 2018, following a prolonged student agitation demanding the restoration of the union. The announcement came on the nineteenth day of an indefinite hunger strike launched by first-year MA Urdu student Yasir Fahad on September 21 at Duck Point on the university campus. On the same day, the university appointed Prof. Mohd. Nafees Ahmad Ansari of the Department of Political Science as the new Proctor, replacing Prof. Mohammad Naved Khan with immediate effect, the FoEJ Media learnt.
The students’ agitation centred on three demands: restoration of the Students’ Union, appointment of an election authority and announcement of an election date. Following the university’s announcement, students described the development as a victory for the student fraternity after years of protests and delays.
“AMU has got its Student Union after 8 years of struggle and demand. All other demands were fulfilled. It’s a real victory for the student fraternity,” an AMU Student said.
The last Aligarh Muslim University Students’ Union (AMUSU) elections were held in November 2018, when Salman Imtiaz was elected president. The union was suspended in 2019, and elections were not held in the subsequent years, the FoEJ Media learnt.
Elections were subsequently notified for December 2025 but were not held. Students staged further protests and sit-ins in January and February 2026. The latest agitation intensified after Fahad and other students submitted a memorandum to the administration seeking an election notification within 48 hours. The university suspended Fahad, citing his alleged involvement in a Women’s College protest, opposition to the administration, participation in an “illegal protest” and blocking a road, an AMU student told FoEJ Media.
Furthermore, the protest subsequently snowballed, with women students joining the sit-in. Tensions escalated on October 3, earlier this month, after reports that police had detained students from a hostel in MM Hall. Protesters allegedly attempted to enter the Proctor’s office, and students later blocked all four entry gates to the campus. Proctor Naved Khan said the police had acted on information about the presence of outsiders in the hostel and maintained that the university had no role in the raid.
“On the evening of 3 October, protesters allegedly tried to enter the Proctor’s office after reports that police had detained four students from a hostel in MM Hall, protesting student said.
“On the night of 6 October, with the strike in its sixteenth day, university security reached the protest site with an ambulance after reports of a decline in Mr Fahad’s condition. A large gathering of students surrounded him and the team returned without moving him,” they said.
“The Proctor stated that the step was meant only to provide urgent medical care and not to break the strike, and that Mr Fahad would be allowed back to the site once stabilised. A student spokesperson said that the students had lost trust in the administration because of past experience and called on the university to announce election dates. Students from campus affirmed that around 2,000 students were present at the site on 7 October and that their demands included the Proctor’s resignation,” the student added.
(Insights from Nashra Naim, AMU student)
