Massive Student-Farmer Protest Erupts at Panjab University Over Stalled Elections

Panjab University’s Chandigarh campus transformed into a high-stakes confrontation zone on Monday afternoon as over 600 students, fueled by 17 months of stalled Senate elections, launched a coordinated assault on multiple entry points. From 11 a.m., waves of protesters charged steel barricades erected overnight, using sheer numbers to bend metal frames while others scaled the 12-foot iron gates of the main entrance near Sector 14. Shouts of “Go Back Chandigarh Police” echoed across the tree-lined avenues as students, many wearing black armbands, shoved past uniformed officers. Police responded with a measured lathicharge—short, controlled baton strikes aimed at dispersing the front line without causing serious injury—yet the action only intensified the crowd’s resolve, with dozens slipping through gaps to occupy the central lawn by 1:30 p.m.

Farmer leaders from the Samyukta Kisan Morcha and Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee escalated the crisis by breaching the Chandigarh-Mohali border checkpoint at 12:45 p.m., where three layers of barricades and sand-laden trucks had been positioned since dawn. Tractor-mounted loudspeakers blared slogans of solidarity as Sarwan Singh Pandher, Kaka Singh Kotra, and M. S. Rai led a 4-kilometre march through Phase-6 traffic, halting the busy Madhya Marg highway for two hours. Upon reaching the campus, they merged with student ranks, forming a human chain that enforced a total shutdown—no classes, no library access, no administrative work. Placards reading “Long Live Students Unity” fluttered alongside farmer flags, turning the protest into a cross-sectional movement against perceived central interference.

Under the direct command of Senior Superintendent of Police Kanwardeep Kaur, who arrived at the scene by 12:15 p.m., riot-gear squads sealed every gate and established inner cordons around the Vice-Chancellor’s office. Thermal drones monitored crowd movement from above, while water cannons stood ready but unused. Despite the lockdown, student leaders Ashmeet Singh and Abhishek Dagar addressed the gathering via megaphones, declaring that academic activities would remain suspended until the Vice-President’s office publicly releases the poll calendar already submitted by university authorities. “This is not just about elections; it’s about who controls our future,” Dagar told reporters, flanked by locked department buildings.

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The Ministry of Education’s abrupt November 7 withdrawal of its October 28 notification—intended to shrink the Senate from 91 to 31 members and abolish Syndicate elections—failed to placate the protesters. Sources confirm the detailed election timeline was dispatched to the Chancellor last week, yet no acknowledgment has surfaced. Political heavyweights have thrown their weight behind the agitation: AAP MP Malvinder Kang accused the Centre of a “silent takeover,” Punjab minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian visited the border blockade, and Congress veterans Partap Singh Bajwa and Pawan Kumar Bansal issued statements condemning police restrictions on student entry. Even artists and alumni networks amplified the call on social media, trending #SavePanjabUniversity nationwide.

As dusk settled and sand trucks remained parked at the border under floodlights, the campus stayed under

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