Authorities Not Allowing Food Inside, Say Students as Protest at Ambedkar University Delhi Enters 8th Day - The Wire

'Authorities Not Allowing Food Inside,' Say Students as Protest at Ambedkar University Delhi Enters 8th Day

New Delhi: Students protesting at Ambedkar University Delhi (AUD) alleged on October 4 that the administration has restricted access to food and medicines, barricaded the campus and prevented students from entering the university as their indefinite sit-in entered its eighth day.

A Bachelors student also told The Wire that the university has cancelled couple of classes today, October 5, to avoid the presence of students in the campus.

The protest, led by students associated with the All India Students' Association (AISA), began in late September over a range of demands including mandatory attendance requirements for PhD students, the withdrawal of fee waivers and restrictions on student protests on campus.

Students say that the situation escalated on the night of October 2, when five protesting students — Jigyasa, Shubham, Piyush, Vivek and Aameen, were inside the Kashmere Gate campus.

Prerna, an AUD student and member of AISA, alleged that the administration had been restricting the movement of food and other necessities into the campus since the beginning of the protest. “It’s important to note that this has been a tactic of the AUD administration since the start — they have been preventing us from bringing in food during the night from day one, and we have had to sneak in food for the night on all the days,” she told The Wire.

October 2 was a university holiday, and, according to Prerna, the students inside were neither allowed to bring food into the campus nor leave to buy it themselves.

“When they attempted to get food at night, the guards physically stopped Vivek, Shubham and Aameen from taking food through the locked gates,” she said. “There was an altercation where the guards got violent. Aameen was thrown on the ground and Shubham was hurt a little” she shared. Prerna alleged that Aameen sustained a head injury and later experienced heart palpitations. She said he was admitted to a hospital at around 2 am.

An AISA statement issued on October 3 also said that Aameen along with two other students at Jantar Mantar, had collapsed after his health deteriorated. The organisation alleged that university authorities prevented an ambulance and police vehicles from entering the campus, delaying his medical evacuation. The allegation of the administration blocking an ambulance could not be independently verified. The next morning, October 3, students and faculty members arriving at the university for classes and scheduled examinations were allegedly told that the campus was closed.

“The students sat on the Masjid Moth road outside the only functioning gate of the university that now remains closed, garrisoning the three remaining protestors inside — Jigyasa, Piyush and Shubham,” Prerna said.

According to her, food was eventually allowed to be taken inside at around 11 am, after the three students had remained without food for almost 24 hours.

The administration's stated reason for the campus closure was the repair of the library and computer laboratory, according to the protesters. Students who remained inside, however, told AISA that they did not see repair or maintenance work taking place. The Wire has reached out to the AUD registrar for comments. This report will be updated when there is a response.

AISA's statement also alleged that the closure was imposed without prior notice and prevented students from attending classes and sitting for examinations. It named Jigyasa and Shubham, the party's councillors of the Lodhi Road and Karampura campuses, and a first-year student from Karampura among those affected by the restrictions.

The university's proctor, Professor Satyaketu Sankrit, subsequently issued an appeal asking students to end the protest, according to AISA. Protesters criticised the administration for asking them to withdraw the sit-in instead of engaging with their demands.

The students' objections to the administration also concern restrictions on protests that predate the current agitation.

An AUD notification issued on July 31, 2026 said permission must be obtained at least four days in advance to conduct a public event, according to students. Another notification issued last year, following a series of sit-in protests, designated a particular area for protests on campus. Students have objected to the location, saying it is situated far from the administration offices.

The protesters are also demanding the removal of iron cages, internal barricades and other physical barriers that they say restrict student movement across the campus. Their charter includes demands for restoration of student access, negotiations with student representatives and an end to what they describe as restrictions on peaceful assembly.

The students have continued their protest outside the university gates. Prerna said they would remain there until the students inside were allowed to leave and the administration agreed to address their demands.

“We have resolved to continue our protest till our friends are allowed to get out of campus and also till the administration gives in to our demands,” she said.

Vivek, an MA Performance Studies student, said students had been demanding faculty for their courses for two months, while basic facilities remained inadequate. “There has been no water in the water cooler for five months. The ACs in the classrooms don’t work, the washrooms aren’t cleaned, and there isn’t even a latch on the girls’ washroom,” he said.

He also said it was time to removal the iron gates dividing the Kashmere Gate campus. “For the past one-and-a-half years, students haven’t even been able to see what is on the other side of the gates in their own campus,” he said. The protesters are also seeking the withdrawal of the July 31 circulars on PhD attendance and prior permission for events, and elected student representatives on committees making decisions concerning students.

Vivek accused Vice-Chancellor Anu Singh Lather of spending lakhs on programmes and hospitality while telling students the university had no funds for basic facilities. “When we ask for basic facilities, she says the university has no funds. That is simply a lie,” he said.

The current confrontation at Ambedkar University Delhi follows a series of disputes over student protests. In March 2025, the university restricted demonstrations near its administrative block and designated a protest area away from the offices. In April 2025, five students were suspended after a protest escalated, with students alleging the use of force by security personnel and police. Later that year, students protested restrictions on protest materials and the installation of iron gates around parts of the campus, including the vice-chancellor’s office.

In March 2026, the Delhi High Court set aside one student's expulsion arising from the earlier protests. In July 2026, AUD issued new rules requiring prior permission for public events, while students also objected to changes in PhD attendance requirements and fee waivers. The disputes culminated in the indefinite sit-in that began on September 28, followed by the latest confrontation over food, campus access and the alleged hospitalisation of a protesting student.

The students' concerns over restrictions on political expression have also emerged alongside the university's engagement with political figures at campus events. In September 2025, Vice-Chancellor Anu Singh Lather attended the inauguration of the Swami Vivekananda Bhawan at AUD's Karampura campus alongside Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta, education minister Ashish Sood, BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj and local BJP MLA Harish Khurana. More recently, in August 2026, AISA and SFI alleged that ABVP activists disrupted student orientation programmes at AUD, with SFI alleging that some of its members were manhandled. Students protesting now argue that the administration's restrictions on their political activity sit uneasily alongside the presence of political figures and organisations associated with the BJP and RSS at university events.

This article went live on October fifth, two thousand twenty six, at thirty-one minutes past one in the afternoon.

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