Beyond Jauhar University: What demolitions mean for the idea of India

By Ram Puniyani* 

A sit-in protest is currently underway outside Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur. The university is run by the Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust, chaired by Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, who is presently in jail. Students are protesting a notice issued by the Rampur Development Authority (RDA), directing the demolition of 38 out of the university's 40 buildings. If implemented, the order would effectively shut down the university.

As reported by The Indian Express (July 20, 2026), Mehroza Khan, a law student at the university, said:

"Our career and future are at stake. We have decided to stage this sit-in because we want the government to reconsider its decision to demolish the university. We would not be able to continue our studies elsewhere, especially at colleges located far away."

She added that the university provides substantial fee concessions, including a 50 percent reduction for SC/ST students and financial support for students who have lost their parents. "There are professional courses like B.Pharma and D.Pharma, which many of us would not be able to pursue elsewhere," she said.

The foundation stone of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University was laid on September 18, 2006, and the campus was developed over several years by the Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust. However, the legality of many of its buildings has become the subject of an intense administrative and legal dispute.

According to the Rampur Development Authority, while the university's Medical College and one academic block were constructed with approved plans, 38 other buildings were allegedly built without obtaining mandatory permissions from the competent civic authority. The university administration, however, contends that these buildings were constructed years earlier, when the area of Singankhera village did not fall under the jurisdiction of the RDA, and that they had received approval from the local Zila Panchayat.

Citing these alleged violations and land-use irregularities, the RDA has ordered the demolition of the 38 buildings. Students, along with several social activists and political leaders, argue that such a step is wholly disproportionate and would destroy an institution that has served economically weaker sections, including Muslims, SCs and STs, by providing affordable higher education. They believe that the action reflects a broader pattern of weakening educational opportunities for Muslims. More generally, they argue that education itself has suffered neglect under the present regime, a concern reflected in recurring student and youth protests. Minority educational institutions, they contend, face increasing administrative obstacles.

The proposed demolition also raises a broader question. Over the past several years, a number of religious structures associated with the Muslim community have become the subject of legal disputes or demolition proceedings. Cases involving Kashi, Mathura, Sambhal, the Ajmer Dargah, Saharanpur, and, more recently, the Kamal Maula Masjid have all attracted national attention. In several of these disputes, petitions have claimed that existing mosques were built over demolished temples.

These claims resemble the strategy employed during the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, where interpretations of medieval history were mobilized for contemporary political purposes. Many historians have argued that sweeping claims about widespread temple destruction to build mosques rely on selective readings of historical evidence and often exaggerate or distort the available record. Entertaining such claims also raises questions regarding the spirit of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which sought to preserve the religious character of places of worship as they existed on August 15, 1947, with the exception of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.

The demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992 marked a turning point in Indian politics. The movement around the dispute significantly strengthened the electoral fortunes of the BJP, eventually contributing to its rise to power at the Centre. Although the Supreme Court's 2019 judgment awarded the disputed land for the construction of a Ram temple, it also held that the placement of Ram Lalla idols inside the mosque in 1949 and the demolition of the mosque in 1992 were unlawful acts.

Since then, similar claims have continued to emerge at different sites. Critics argue that repeated litigation over places of worship, despite the 1991 Act, contributes to communal polarization and serves the politics of religious nationalism. The controversy surrounding Jauhar University, they contend, represents an extension of this trend beyond religious structures to an educational institution identified with the Muslim community.

If the university is substantially demolished, the consequences will extend beyond questions of legality. It will deprive thousands of students—many from disadvantaged backgrounds—of access to affordable higher education. At a time when educational opportunities should be expanding, the closure of such an institution would be a setback for social inclusion and human development.

A similar pattern is visible elsewhere. In Saharanpur, an old mosque has reportedly been served a notice on the ground that it lacks the necessary permissions. Critics argue that administrative and legal provisions are increasingly being used to target Muslim-owned or Muslim-associated structures. The growing use of bulldozers as instruments of governance has become a matter of serious public concern. Apart from the immediate human consequences, demolitions also destroy valuable social assets created over decades.

Nation-building once meant something very different. In the years following Independence, India's leadership invested in institutions such as the IITs, AIIMS, major public sector enterprises, and large irrigation projects. These were seen as the foundations upon which a newly independent nation could overcome poverty, inequality, and underdevelopment.

Today, however, public attention appears increasingly diverted towards searching for temples beneath mosques and identifying legal irregularities in structures associated with one particular community. Such controversies may yield political dividends, but they do little to address the country's pressing developmental challenges. Instead, they deepen social divisions and weaken the constitutional values of equality, secularism, and fraternity.

The real task of nation-building lies not in demolishing institutions but in creating them. India needs more universities, more schools, more hospitals, and more opportunities—not fewer. It needs governance guided by the Constitution rather than by communal polarization.

One hopes that wisdom will prevail, and that the country's energies will once again be directed towards building an inclusive nation rather than dismantling institutions that contribute to its social and educational progress.

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*Well known political analyst