JNU students' hunger strike entered its 16th day Monday.
They demand infrastructure improvements and reversal of student rustications.
Their demands also include academic reforms and restoring GSCASH.
The hunger strike by students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) entered its 16th day on Monday, with protesters demanding better campus infrastructure, the revocation of student rustications and changes to the university’s disciplinary rules.
The current president, Aditi Mishra, and vice president, Gopika, along with 11 other students, are sitting on a hunger strike that began on October 3 under the banner of the JNUSU.
JNUSU Joint Secretory Danish Ali, who is pursuing a PhD at the Centre for Historical Studies, told Outlook that the union, along with former president Nitish, was rusticated in February for protesting against the installation of a facial recognition technology (FRT) surveillance system inside the Central Library.
“We were rusticated for a year and fined ₹19,000 each. Eight other students were fined ₹19,000 each just for clapping and being present at the protest site,” Ali said.
The Demands
The major demands of the students include taking back the rustication of the JNUSU office bearers, removing the provisions of the Chief Proctor Manual that give the administration the right to impose penalties on students and restrict gatherings and protests and bringing back the JNU entrance exam JNUEE among the charter of 13 demands.
Their demands include taking back the rustication and out-of-bond order issued by the administration. Danish said, “We demand that all rustications be revoked immediately.” She said that the Dean of Students visited the protest site but offered no satisfactory answer to their demands.
Dhananjay, a second-year PhD student, told Outlook that it's his 17th day on strike and that, along with other demands, one key demand is to bring back the Gender Sensitisation Committee against Sexual Harassment(GSCASH) to campuses, which the ICC replaced.
He said that in the ICC, students are in the minority, while GSCASH was an inclusive platform.
Tanuj, a 2nd-year PhD student at the Centre for Studies of Law and Governance (CSLG) said that JNU represents the global idea of a public university, but a private player called Siddhanta Foundation is being introduced under the name of the National Education Policy (NEP), which offers recorded video lectures.
He claimed that there is no real teaching, and due to this, there is no possibility of holistic development of students. He said we demand that the Siddhanta Foundation must be removed immediately and quality courses should be offered.
John Brittas Writes To President
The CPI(M) MP John Brittas has written to the President, seeking her intervention in JNU students’ hunger strike, according to ANI.
In his letter, he wrote, “ The failure of the university administration to address the genuine and longstanding concerns of the student community has led to this continuing protest and contributed to the deteriorating health of the participating students, giving rise to a situation warranting urgent intervention.”
Earlier in February 2026, the administration suspended five students and declared them "out of bounds", fining each ₹20,000 for vandalising Facial Recognition Technology gates at the Dr B.R. Ambedkar Central Library in November 2025.
