The students of Jamia Milia Islamia are on hunger strike for 16 days seeking political empowerment - the revival of their Students Union - so that their demands and concerns find a democratic platform. The administration, however, is taking a heavy-handed approach. It has gone to extreme lengths of cutting electricity and water supply on campus, and has even shifted all classes online. The entire college has been brought to a standstill due to the administration’s stubbornness in dealing with this genuine demand. While the administration is taking instructions from the Government of India and deploying a familiar toolkit to distract and defame the protesters, we all know that this is a matter of democratic rights, and nothing else. We stand in solidarity with the students and urge the authorities to accede to their demands.