The student activists blurted out, saying, “It is not a small decision to be taken; you are canceling the admission of an MPhil scholar, that too, after three long years of hard work. For this, I had to work hard during the pandemic. I was pregnant, was in jail, harassed online, and attacked by the state.”
By  Ahmed Kasim / Clarion India

NEW DELHI — Student activist Safoora Zargar had hogged the headlines in 2020 when she was arrested and incarcerated under the draconian UAPA for her alleged involvement in the communal violence that had broke out in northeast Delhi that claimed 53 lives when she was pregnant. She is currently in the limelight for making allegation of discrimination against the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) where she is currently doing her MPhil.

Safoora accuses the university of denying her permission to submit her thesis by “refusing” her an extension after the one given at the time of Covid pandemic whereas as per the University Grants Commission (UGC) rules a student can avail of five extensions. She alleged in a tweet that while the UGC has granted five consecutive Covid extensions why she has been given only one.

Recounting her plight, she wrote, “I have been made to run from pillar to post for the extensions that are easily given to other scholars in the university. I have faced severe abuse at the hands of my Supervisor and my department.”

Speaking to Clarion India, Safoora Zargar said she is going through a mental stress. “It is not a small decision to be taken; you are canceling the admission of an MPhil scholar, that too, after three long years of hard work. For this, I had to work hard during the pandemic. I was pregnant, was in jail, harassed online, and attacked by the state. Despite all this, I never compromised with my work, submitted everything on time, and today finally I am not being allowed to submit my work.”

She said, “I have tried hard to meet the VC and the registrar, have written many emails, written details application, done all, yet have not got any response. I have been asking this question to the Jamia administration for two years. Why are students not being listened? I have come to know through the media that my consultation has been passed. Finally, I don’t know the fate of my work.”

She pointed out that for any scholar his thesis is like his child. It is very close to you. And when you work hard, you get very attached to your the work. It has been the same for her.

“I was imprisoned, I got bail on humanitarian grounds, I still can’t go out of Delhi. I go to court many times in a month. During these visits my work, my thesis is affected. After putting in so much hard work that too is being taken away from me,” she lamented.

This story was originally published in clarionindia.net . Read the full story here