Do Muslim universities in India need student unions?

This commentary examines the need for student unions in Muslim universities in India, focusing on Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI). Situating both institutions within the history of modern Muslim education and political mobilisation, it explores how prolonged suspensions of student union elections affect democratic participation and future political leadership. Drawing on institutional histories, media reports, legal developments and comparisons with student leaders from Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University, the commentary examines how campus politics develops organisational experience and access to wider political networks. It argues that student unions are not merely recruitment grounds for mainstream politics but also spaces for articulating collective concerns and engage in representative decision-making. Their absence does not eliminate student activism or guarantee the exclusion of future leaders, but it can narrow an important pathway to political participation, particularly for minority Muslim students with limited access to established political networks. The commentary therefore advocates transparent and regular student union elections as an integral to democratic university spaces.