Jauhar University demolition order puts Rampur campus in legal fight
Uttar Pradesh authorities say 38 campus buildings are illegal; the university disputes the order as students protest in Rampur.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
3 min read
Authorities in India’s Uttar Pradesh state have moved toward a Jauhar University demolition, ordering 38 of the campus’s 40 buildings to be taken down over alleged regulatory violations, Al Jazeera reported. The dispute matters for nearly 3,000 students at Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur, where students, alumni and residents have begun an indefinite protest.
The Rampur Development Authority issued the demolition order on July 15, according to Al Jazeera. Officials said only two buildings, including a proposed medical college block, had valid approvals, and gave the university until August 5 to remove the other structures or face demolition by authorities at the university’s expense.
On Monday, the state administration issued an interim stay, Al Jazeera reported. Vice Chancellor Zaheeruddin told the network the stay delays action beyond the August 5 deadline but does not cancel the order, and said the university is seeking a ruling that throws it out entirely.
Why is Jauhar University facing demolition?
Local authorities say most campus buildings were constructed without required approval. District magistrate and Rampur Development Authority vice chairperson Ajay Kumar Dwivedi told reporters on July 15 that, after notice and a written response from the university, 38 buildings were found invalid.
The university rejects that position. Zaheeruddin told Al Jazeera that Singankhera village, where the campus is located, came under the development authority’s jurisdiction only in September 2024, long after the buildings were constructed, so the approvals now being demanded were not required at the time.
Mohammad Ali Jauhar University is a 250-acre minority university named for a freedom fighter who opposed British rule. It was founded in Rampur by Azam Khan, a prominent Muslim politician and Samajwadi Party leader, after the Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust was set up in 2003 and the university was established three years later, according to Al Jazeera.
Who is opposing the order?
Students and alumni have been sitting outside the university’s main gate since July 15, demanding that the demolition order be withdrawn. Usama Tayyab, a 2019 graduate, told Al Jazeera protesters believe the state government can be pressured to stop the demolition through sustained agitation.
Several students told Al Jazeera the campus is especially important for women in the district. Iqra, a fifth-year law student who uses one name, said families chose the university because they considered it safe for Muslim women, and said many parents would not send their daughters elsewhere if it closed.
The university’s chief proctor, Gulrez Nizami, told Al Jazeera that nearly half of the students are female. Chandni Diwakar, a first-year paramedical student, told the network that many Hindus also study there, even though the institution has minority status.
What is the political dispute around Azam Khan?
Azam Khan, 77, has been a leading critic of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh, Al Jazeera reported. Since the BJP came to power in the state in 2017, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s government has filed nearly 100 cases against Khan, including allegations tied to land, forgery and hate speech.
Khan spent more than two years in jail before India’s Supreme Court granted him bail in 2022, according to Al Jazeera. He is now serving a two-year sentence handed down in May over remarks during the 2019 general elections, alongside a conviction in a separate case involving an income tax document.
Samajwadi Party MP Javed Ali Khan told Al Jazeera the demolition order was political retaliation against an institution linked to Azam Khan and the opposition party. BJP spokesman Rakesh Tripathi rejected that claim, telling the network the action follows legal procedure against illegal construction and accusing the Samajwadi Party of appeasement politics.
The university has challenged the order as protests continue. Al Jazeera reported that authorities say the violations cannot be regularised under existing law, while the vice chancellor says the order violates students’ right to education.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.