SP and Sikh groups rally against demolition of Jauhar University in UP

The Rampur Development Authority ordered the demolition of 38 of the 40 buildings at Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, alleging that the structures were constructed without approved plans and violated multiple regulations, including fire and income‑tax rules.

Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders and workers, including former minister Tej Narayan Pandey, staged protests in Ayodhya and elsewhere, submitted a memorandum to the President of India and the district magistrate, and demanded a halt to the demolition, calling it a politically motivated vendetta.

SP national secretary Kuldeep Singh Bhullar led a contingent of Sikh community members in a parallel protest, insisting the university was built on approved village land and describing the demolition order as an attack on a “temple of education.”

Students at the campus also joined the demonstrations, urging authorities to impose fines and regularise any irregularities rather than raze the buildings, with some threatening hunger strikes.