First female Indian central university leader ‘strict on protesters’

Just months into her job as the first female vice-chancellor at one of India’s most rapidly improving universities, Najma Akhtar faced her initial test in navigating clashes between students and police, amid growing national political turmoil.

It was 2019 and across the country, student protests were erupting over India’s amended Citizenship Act, which critics saw as favouring non-Muslim immigration and undermining the nation’s secular constitution. Dozens of Delhi police came on to the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) campus, allegedly entering the library and dormitories and beating students. For Professor Akhtar, the incident crossed a line.

“I went to highest court saying this is not the way they can enter my university,” she said.

The move gained her the approval of the government – which oversees central universities, funded and managed by the central government – showing that “this lady v-c” it had selected could handle political clashes at a time when many other universities faced greater disruption. It also won her respect on campus.

“This was highly appreciated that in spite of everything, the vice-chancellor stands with the students,” she said.

Four of a total five years into her leadership of JMI, the struggle with political turmoil has remained a theme, not always garnering Professor Akhtar the praise of her young charges. This January, her administration came under fire from some academics for its handling of the controversial BBC documentary on prime minister Narendra Modi. The government banned the online sharing of the documentary, or clips from it.

Professor Akhtar said: “I could see that if anything goes wrong, outside there are a lot of police – they could have entered my university. So I told my students, ‘no downloading of this banned documentary on the campus, you do it on the road, or wherever you want, but not on campus’.”

Students “have to be within the limits,” she said. “In the campus they are safe. But if they’re going to go out and [protest off campus], I’m not with them.”

If students cross the line, she has “no problem writing to their parents” or suspending them.

“At the risk of one or two students who are not good, I cannot spoil the future of the whole university,” said Professor Akhtar. “I am very strict. It’s like being a mother. You’re telling them not to do something, but if they do, you have to punish them.”

Like leaders at other universities, she has also been dealing with decreases in government funding – but she refuses to complain about the removal of the “silver spoon in our mouths”.  

“We have been encouraged to earn for ourselves. This is very good,” she said, noting that lessons in resource generation, gleaned during her degree in university administration at the University of Warwick, have come in handy.

As JMI’s first female v-c – and the first female head of an Indian central university, she feels the pressure to perform, not only for herself.

“If I succeed, they’ll make more [female] v-cs. Now…I can see a number of women v-cs coming up.”

She has pushed her faculty and students, especially women, to seize opportunities to advance. In 2019, the first year of the Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship supporting top research talent, JMI students won eight of the prestigious grants – outperforming their peers at larger institutions. Even more of a point of pride, seven of the eight winners were women.

“That shows the readiness of the girls. They’re just waiting for their time,” said Professor Akhtar.

Her other efforts seem to have made a difference. When she came into the v-c post, JMI was far from the top-ranked universities in India. In the last four years, it has climbed up the National Institutional Ranking Framework. In 2018, the year before Professor Akhtar joined, the institution was in 12th place – by 2022, it was third.

She jokes that “now the university can relax for five years”. But relaxing doesn’t appear to be on the agenda.

Recently, Professor Akhtar met with India’s president to discuss plans for her institution to be approved to create a medical college – which she said could accommodate a “huge” number of Delhi residents who cannot afford healthcare.

She’s given up on her initial request for the government to fund the college. But she’s convinced that she can wrangle a deal before her time as vice-chancellor is up.

“I said, ‘No money, no matter. But…give us approval,’” she said. “I still seriously believe that before I go, I’ll have a letter in my hand.”

pola.lem@timeshighereducation.com