A proctor, denying insects in food, remarked, “This hostel is for the poor; go to a 5-star hotel for something better.” This sparked a major protest at MANUU.
Published Sep 21, 2024 | 9:08 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 21, 2024 | 10:46 PM
Students protested poor living conditions on 19 and 20 September at Maulana Azad National Urdu University
As the evening dawns, the students start singing, reciting poetry, or sitting on the patches of grass. They’ll do anything but leave the administrative block alone. In fact, the students resorted to taking breaks in shifts to ensure that the protest carried on smoothly. Even though the authorities refused to exit the heavily guarded admin block, the Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) campus was exuberant with a steely resolve.
On 19 September, Hostel 3 students raised concerns about the poor quality of the food once again. Over the years, they’ve found insects in their food several times. Additionally, they weren’t the only ones facing these issues. However, official apathy drove them to helplessness, building frustration among the students.
Maulana Azad National Urdu University
The students of MANUU protested poor living conditions in the hostels, on 19 September. Garnering support from across the university, they sat outside the admin block for over 30 hours, demanding the resignation of the proctor, and girls and boys provosts.
At about 2 pm on 19 September, the students of Hostel 3 raised concerns regarding the substandard food at their hostel. This wasn’t the first time they were served substandard food. “The food in girls’ and boys’ hostel has been of poor quality for a while now, even before I joined,” Sadiya Shaikh, a first-year Master’s in Social Work student, revealed.
When the proctor, Mohammad Azim, appeared in front of the hostelites to resolve their issue, it quickly led to a verbal altercation between both parties. “We offered the food to him and asked him to taste it, but he refused. He started calling us names and left the scene. If we found any insects, he told us to put them aside and continue eating,” Md Absharuddin, a PhD in Education student, informed.
The fee for food at the hostel is ₹2,000 for the girls and ₹3,000 for the boys. Yet, students from both hostels have repeatedly expressed displeasure with the unavailability of hygienic food.
Furthermore, the proctor was caught on tape trying to deny that the food had any insects. He sternly informed, “The hostel is for the poor, if you want something better, head to a 5-star hotel.” This apathy triggered one of the biggest protests at MANUU.
MANUU student’s Poor and MANUU staff’s Rich at Hyderabad pic.twitter.com/d6cg8lKxt5
— Dr Md Wasim Akhtar (@MdWasimAkhtar6) September 20, 2024
“The college has about 6,000 students, almost 4,000 stay in hostels. We saw at least 1,000 step up to join our protest the first night,” Absharuddin said. He was the presidential candidate for the union elections the previous year. The 2024 union elections were also around the corner before the protests began.
“We have three panels contesting election on campus, AUSF, ANSA, and ASL. The three panels put aside their differences to join the protest united,” Talha Manan, the presidential candidate of the AUSF panel, informed.
The protest began after 2 pm on 19 September, following the disagreement with the proctor. As the students took to sitting outside the admin block, the protesters grew in size as other hostel students joined in. As the evening rolled around, the admin block was crowded, resonating with the music of dissent.
The students didn’t let the VC Syed Ainul Hasan, the proctor, or the provosts leave the building, demanding a resolution.
At night, the students from the girls’ hostel joined as well. “They locked our gate, they didn’t want us to join the protest. However, the girls’ hostel was also facing issues similar to the boys’ hostel,” Sadiya informed. She was also contesting in the union election from the ANSA panel.
“The girls didn’t give up, we broke the locks on the gate and joined the boys outside the admin block in solidarity,” Sadiya added.
Unrest at #MANUU Hyderabad HQ as students, including strong participation from female students, protest mess food. Proctor refuses to resign, calls police. MSU Election on Sept 24th also cancelled by the Election Returning Commissioner. #MSU #MaulanaAzandNationaUrduUniversity pic.twitter.com/5eSNGIuJl0
— وارث, वारिस , Waris (@warisjaved1755) September 20, 2024
As this was happening, the administration resorted to calling in the police. “It was during the night that the police started rolling in, I believe it was to intimidate us,” Abshar stated.
On 20 September, the student leaders began negotiations with the administration. Simultaneously, additional CRPF personnel began dropping in. Police officers were stationed at the entrance and outside the admin block. Numerous police cars were parked on campus as their volume increased until the afternoon.
Police cars parked outside the administrative block
In a breakthrough, the boys’ provost, Yusuf Khan, tendered his resignation. However, the students stuck to their demands, calling for the proctor and girls’ provost to quit.
“We got what we wanted, we got the boys provost to resign. However, we weren’t alone, the girls stuck with us through the end. We must stick with them too,” a Master’s in Education student from Chittoor in Andhra explained.
“Most of the students here are non-locals. They typically hail from marginalised communities in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar,” Sadiya informed. “Telling these people they aren’t eligible for basic amenities is unfair,” she elaborated.
While the MANUU keeps introducing new courses every year, there is minimal change in the accommodation facilities. “They say they don’t have money to shelter the students, but they’re building ponds and rabbit parks on campus,” Sadiya lamented.
Hailing from Kerala, a student living in the hostel said, “They are three stuffing people into rooms that can barely hold two. There is improper hygiene and stray dogs and cats keep entering and defecating in both the boys’ and girls’ hostels.” A native of Thrissur, he and his friends stayed up protesting all night.
“We are not terrorists. We protested peacefully and will continue to do so. I fail to understand why they called in the police. They’re trying to threaten us with detainment when we’re merely exercising our democratic rights and duty to a fellow student,” Talha stated.
Following the protests, the administration cancelled the 2024 union elections without a proper explanation. “A student union election is part of the democratic spirit in universities. This is a space of dissent. We will continue to protest even if they cancel our elections,” Talha reported.
#MANUU Hyderabad as students protest against authoritarianism and several critical issues, In retaliation, the MANUU administration has canceled the #UnionElection 2024.
We call on @EduMinOfIndia and @ugc_india to take urgent action.
Let urge local media for coverage. pic.twitter.com/cuMN53d0XL
— Md Shahid (@shahid_md85619) September 20, 2024
The administration cancelled the 2024 student union elections due to the protests
“We need to ensure that the administration does not retaliate against any student due to the protest, even if it’s after a year from now. Even if one student suffers because of this protest, we would have failed,” a student opined publicly to the student leaders.
“We’re asking Mohammad Azeem to resign in his capacity as a proctor. He’s also in charge of the Election Commission, the director of the indoor stadium, and the Head of Department for Management and Commerce,” a student said. He suspected that the students would face consequences for the protest one way or another.
“There is a nexus of power at MANUU, all those in the top positions either know each other or are related. They cover for themselves,” he loathed.
“Despite being a central university, we don’t have GSCASH (Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment). Even our Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) is virtually ineffective,” Sadiya informed. “Whenever we approached the provost or proctor with complaints, they intimidated us threatening academic consequences,” she elaborated.
In the evening, the administration made an offer with the Madhapur DCP as a mediator. They delivered an ultimatum that the students could either call off the protest for the weekend to negotiate afresh from Monday, or they could continue the protest but potentially face police action.
The student leaders deliberated their course of action with the remaining protestors
Following much deliberation, and some heavy rains soon after, the students tentatively called off the protest. “If we’re not satisfied with the outcome on Monday, we’ll protest once again,” Sadiya informed.
(Edited by Ananya Rao)
