“We want AMUSU”: Students at Aligarh Muslim University demand Student Union

Amidst citizens’ demand for accountability and representation throughout the country, the students of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) have been protesting for elections to the AMU Student Union (AMUSU). 

On Sunday, September 20th, Yasar Fahad, a master's student at AMU, launched a hunger strike centred on the demand for the restoration of the union. Over the last 17 days, his strike has grown into a mass mobilisation, with students from different departments, residential halls, and cohorts joining the movement. Students say that they have been met with FIRs, suspensions and police pickups instead of any engagement with the university administration. You can read more here. 

On the night of Tuesday, October 6th, the university authorities’ attempt to shift Fahad, potentially seeking an end to the strike, was met by a mass student blockade. Women from across residential hostels also showed their solidarity late at night in their respective halls, as slogans took the air by storm. 

During the afternoon of October 7th, on-ground reports estimate around two thousand students gathered at Duck Point, the primary protest site where the strike also began. The movement has turned its attention to two major demands: the restoration of AMUSU and the resignation of the AMU Proctor. “The [female] student body from the Women’s College and Abdullah Hall has arrived at the protest site. We are seeing a wave of agitation from the female students,” a correspondent on the ground told The Edict. 

The last AMUSU took office in 2018, after which a temporary suspension was put in place in 2019. Around eight years later, the AMUSU remains defunct due to the administration’s delay in holding elections. It functions as an autonomous body, ensuring that student voices are not only heard but spoken without institutional interference and pressure points. The administration had earlier promised to hold the elections in December 2025, following the fee hike protests. However, the promise was reneged on. 

The importance of AMUSU extends beyond student-university negotiations. “For a minority institution, representation also serves a protective function. A union with elected office-bearers, recorded minutes and an accountable process gives students a recognised channel to the administration, to the courts and to the public,” writes Nabiha Omar. 

AMUSU also functions as an important institutional mechanism for both representing and shaping organised demands, aspirations, and goals of the minority community. As Muslims across India face disproportionate threats covering every aspect of their social and political life, spaces like the AMUSU open up possibilities of organising and representing the community. 

“The AMUSU functions as an alternative political space where a marginalised community trains its leaders where formal representation fails,” said @farooquology, a student at AMU. 

The importance of AMUSU is reflected in its historical legacy. Founded in 1884 as a student debating club, it predates the formation of the Indian state. The union was a centre of mobilisation during the freedom struggle. It has trained leaders like Zakir Hussain, Azam Khan, Javed Habib, Arif Mohammad Khan, among others. Its lifetime members include Mahatma Gandhi, Muhammad Iqbal, Jawaharlal Nehru, and B.R. Ambedkar. 

Student leaders from other institutions have shown their solidarity. A delegation from the Jawaharlal Nehru University Student Association (JNUSU) joined AMU students on Tuesday, October 6th, to show support for their demands for the restoration of the union.

“The government and administration are scared of your voices mobilising because they know that when a law against Muslim, women, or dalit-adivasis is introduced, the students of AMU will stand and raise their voice against it,” Danish Ali was seen speaking at the protesting site. 

Bhim Army chief Chandrashekar Azad also backed the AMU students’ demand, urging the university to initiate dialogue. Dr Ambedkar Students’ Front of India (DASFI) also showed their solidarity with protesting students. 

Meanwhile, the Ashoka University Student Government (AUSG) has not released any statement in support. When protests erupt in any university space over foundational demands for representation, it becomes imperative to engage in inter-university dialogue. 

(Edited by Avika Mantri)