Rampur (UP): Students of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University here have “temporarily” halted their protest against the district authority’s order to demolish some of the varsity’s buildings following an interim stay on the proposed action, an official said Tuesday.
The protesters said the decision was taken to honour the stay granted by the court of the Moradabad Divisional Commissioner.
The divisional commissioner will now hear the case August 3.
“The protest by students of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University (MAJU) against the demolition notice issued by the Rampur Development Authority has been stopped for the time being because of the temporary stay on demolition,” the university official told PTI, requesting anonymity.
An alumnus of MAJU, who pursued B Com Honours and passed out in 2019 and took part in the protest, said, “The protest by the students has temporarily halted.”
A post-graduate student, who also took part in the protest, when contacted, said, “We welcome and honour the stay granted by the court of Moradabad Divisional Commissioner. We have full faith in the judiciary.”
The students had launched the protest against the Rampur Development Authority’s order issued July 15 to demolish 38 of the university’s 40 buildings on the grounds that they were constructed without approval.
The Moradabad Divisional Commissioner’s court Monday stayed the proposed demolition until the final hearing in the case.
Divisional Commissioner Anjaneya Kumar Singh said the interim order was passed as a precautionary measure.
He said the proceedings could not be held Tuesday due to a scheduled condolence meeting following the death of an advocate in Moradabad.
“If court work had remained suspended Tuesday and the Rampur Development Authority (RDA) and the Rampur district administration had gone ahead with the demolition of the 38 structures, it could have created complications,” he said.
Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai visited the university late Monday evening after the court order and congratulated the students and offered them sweets.
Rai said the stay on the “bulldozer action” against the university represents a “victory for the students”.
He added that students and youths across the country are energised by the developments following the protests at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, while the government is rattled and the stay on the demolition of Jauhar University is, in a way, a result of this anxiety.
Rai mentioned that he also met Tazeen Fatma, wife of Jauhar University founder and former Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan, to discuss various matters related to the institution.
He asserted that a university should absolutely not be made to pay the price for the government’s hostility towards Azam Khan.
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