INDIA’S JAUHAR UNIVERSITY WINS INTERIM RELIEF AS COURT HALTS DEMOLITION OF 38 STRUCTURES

Tue 28 July 2026:

Jauhar University received interim relief on Monday after the Moradabad Divisional Commissioner’s court stayed the proposed demolition of 38 buildings on its Rampur campus until the final hearing of the case.

Divisional Commissioner Anjaneya Kumar Singh said the stay was granted after the university’s counsel filed an application seeking relief. He added that the scheduled hearing on Tuesday could not take place due to a condolence meeting following the death of an advocate in Moradabad.

“The university’s application has been accepted, and demolition of any structure has been stayed until further orders. The interim protection will remain in force until the final hearing,” Singh said. He added that a final decision would be taken after hearing all parties and examining the relevant records.

The relief comes amid ongoing protests by students, which entered their 12th day. University founder Azam Khan’s wife and former Rajya Sabha MP, Tazeen Fatma, welcomed the development and reiterated that the institution would continue its legal battle if necessary.

Currently, a sit-in is going on in front of Mohammed Ali Jauhar University in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh. Azam Khan, a leader of Samajwadi Party, who is in jail at present, is the chairman of the trust running the university. The students are staging a sit-in to oppose a notice by the Rampur Development Authority (RDA) that has asked for 38 of the 40 buildings of the university to be demolished. This will tantamount to the closure of the university.

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“If the verdict is not in our favour, we will approach the High Court and, if required, the Supreme Court. We will continue our struggle till the very end,” she said. Fatma also rejected suggestions that the state government could take over the university, arguing that minority educational institutions enjoy constitutional protection.

She said students had resolved to continue their education even if the campus was demolished. “They told me they would sit on the ground, under trees, and continue studying,” she said.

Meanwhile, Azam Khan’s close aide Asim Raja warned of a massive agitation if authorities attempted to demolish the university.

The controversy surrounding Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, involves disputes over alleged land violations, political pressure from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and accusations from critics that the Hindu right-wing targets minority educational symbols.

The controversy began after the Rampur Development Authority (RDA) issued an order on July 15 directing the university to demolish 38 of its 40 buildings within 15 days, alleging they were constructed without approved building plans under the Uttar Pradesh Urban Planning and Development Act, 1973.

The proposed demolition has drawn widespread opposition from students, the Samajwadi Party and several social organisations, with protests demanding that the order be withdrawn.

The students and many social activists and politicians are pleading that this demolition is unwarranted, as the university is rendering a valuable service for students of various marginalised categories, and more so Muslims and Scheduled Castes and Tribes. They claim that the primary aim of the state government is to undermine education for Muslims in particular. As such, education is one of the major areas neglected by the present regime, as the current upsurge of students and youth across the country shows. As for minority educational institutions, more obstacles are being created.

The other aspect is the demolition of structures identified with Muslim identity. The Jauhar University is the latest in the line of demolitions, mosques in Kashi, Mathura, Sambhal, Ajmer Dargah and Saharanpur are already in the queue. Recently, we saw the Kamaal Maula Masjid being handed over to Hindu side on the grounds that it was a temple of Vagdevi. Other mosques face the axe on the lines of the Babri Mosque.

The creative mind of thinkers of the Hindu Right is now aiming at a university. This proposed demolition will serve an additional purpose; that of defaming the Muslim community and pushing it in a corner by depriving education for the minority community, which is a dire necessity.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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