BBC Documentary row: Classes to remain suspended at Jamia on Friday

New Delhi: Jamia Millia Islamia has suspended classes on Friday on the request of students and faculty members, the varsity said in a statement here on Thursday. In an office memo, the administration said all offices of the university, including the departments, centres and schools, will function as usual.

“The Vice Chancellor, JMI, on the request of faculty members and students, has approved that all classes in the university, including university schools, shall remain suspended on Friday, 27.01.2023. However, all offices of the university, including Departments, Centres and Schools, will function as usual,” the memo read.

“Similarly, the scheduled meetings of Selection Committees and other programmes, including Examinations, if any, will also be held as per notified schedule,” it added.  The university celebrated the 74th Republic Day on Thursday with unfurling of the national flag by Vice Chancellor Najma Akhtar at the forecourt of Dr M A Ansari Auditorium.

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Akhtar, in her address, elaborated on the recent achievements of Jamia such as it figuring among the top three universities in NIRF, the A++ grade awarded by NAAC, and the highest ranking for the university's outstanding performance in providing quality education, teaching and research.

“We are making sincere endeavours to become a world-class teaching-cum-research university by bringing in best national and international practices through the development of collaborative partnerships with institutions of excellence, both domestically and internationally.

“We are committed to offering cutting edge learning experience, internationally benchmarked education, intellectual freedom and critical research opportunities in frontier areas of contemporary concern,” she said.

A protest was held in the campus on Wednesday against the detention of four Students' Federation of India (SFI) activists hours before the proposed screening of the controversial BBC documentary on PM Modi "India: The Modi Question".