NEW DELHI: The Jamia Millia Islamia administration has cancelled the admission of activist Safoora Zargar who was enrolled as a research scholar. Citing “unsatisfactory progress” as one of the reasons behind the cancellation, the administration also added that Zargar had failed to submit her MPhil thesis within the stipulated period. In a notice, the administration said the Board of Studies had “approved the cancellation” of Zargar as an MPhil/PhD scholar at the varsity with effect from August 22. “Her progress report by the supervisor was unsatisfactory. The scholar did not apply for extension as a woman scholar before the expiry of the stipulated maximum period. The scholar did not submit her MPhil dissertation within the maximum stipulated time of five semesters, plus on additional semester of Covid extension (sixth semester) that was also given to her, which ended on February 6,” the notice read. Reacting to the notice, Zargar said, “The usually snail-paced Jamia administration moving at light speed to cancel my admission, foregoing all due process. Let it be known, it breaks my heart, but not my spirit.” Zargar, who enrolled into the integrated MPhil-PhD course in 2019, was arrested under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in relation to the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests, following which she was in jail for over two months in 2020. With her thesis titled “The socio-spatial segregation among Muslims in Delhi. A case study on Ghaffar Manzil Colony”, Zargar was registered under professor Kulwinder Kaur at the sociology department. Earlier, Zargar alleged that since December 2021, she was “made to run from pillar to post for 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. While University Grants Commission has okayed five consecutive Covid-19 extensions, I have been given only one. I was forced to apply for extension under the women scholar category only to be denied after months citing ‘unsatisfactory progress’,” she had claimed. “Despite three waves of Covid, a pregnancy, severe state attack, jail time and severe Covid infections in the family, I completed my fieldwork. I submitted all my progress reports on time,” she had said.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/jamia-milia-islamia-cancels-admission-of-activist-scholar-safoora-zargar/articleshow/93863714.cms