How is Jamia Millia Islamia University for Hindu Students?

Jamia Millia Islamia is a central university, located in south of Delhi. Jamia is famous for Muslim minorities, with maximum number of Muslim students. This university is alleged to be an Islamic Institute largely, on the ground of its name and the Muslim population.

The University reserves 50% of seats for General candidates and for Muslim community ( Muslim General there is 30% of reservation, followed by 10% for Muslim OBC/SC/ST and 10% for Muslim Women, etc), total 50% is reserved.

Some questions may arise in the mind of Hindu students before taking admission in Jamia University:

1. What is it like to be a Hindu student in Jamia Millia Islamia university?
2. How many Hindu students are there in Jamia Millia Islamia?
3. How is the experience studying at Jamia Millia Islamia for non-muslim?
4. Is there is any discrimination?

And many more!

Experience 1

By
Gitesh Aggarwal, B.Tech Mechanical Engineering, Jamia Millia Islamia

Let me share my experience of being a Hindu student, studying in a Muslim majority institution like Jamia Millia Islamia:

1. Culture – Belonging to the Baniya community and a Hindu majority public school, I was never exposed to any other culture other than Hinduism. It was Jamia Millia Islamia that taught me how beautiful and deep is Islam. I was fascinated by the number of times my Muslim fellows would go for Namaz prayers, greet each other with a lot of poise and grace and humbly explain the meaning of various Urdu terms to us fellow Hindus.

2. Dressing Sense – Jamia has its own distinct dressing sense and every single person takes pride in what he or she wears. During my initial days at Jamia, I was amazed by Sherwanis , Caps and long flowing beards of professors, Pathani Kurtas worn by Afghanis and women covered from head to toe in Black burkas.

3. Food – This comes as the standout feature of JMI. Before arriving here, I had only witnessed Samosas, Patties, Cold drinks etc in my school canteen. But the sheer range of food items served in JMI’s canteens left me awestruck. Some of the unconventional delicacies includes Korma, Kabab Paratha, Veg and Non Veg Biryani, Non Veg Thali, Amritsari Nan etc. ( There are more than 14 canteens in JMI)

4. Architecture – The beautiful and nicely manicured gardens, arch shaped domes, more than 100 years old Mughal style buildings and mosques every few metres gives Jamia a very distinct architecture, something which is hard to find in other universities throughout India.

5. Academics – JMI is a top notch institute when it comes to academics. Every year it produces excellent engineers, civil servants, lawyers, doctors and artists. There is absolutely no discrimination faced by Hindu students when it comes to academics. The professors are highly qualified and students are always judged on the basis of their marks rather than religion and caste.

6. Sports – Being a Hindu, I had this preconceived notion that Muslims are not very fond of sports and hence the sports facilities would be dismal. I was left awestruck when I first entered the sports stadium. The sheer size of the stadium shook me to the core. There were facilities for every single sport, from Football and Basketball, to Badminton and Table Tennis. Plus, I came to know that Jamians have an illustrious history in the field of sports and the institute continuously rakes in the top slot in University sports rankings.

7. Hostels – The hostel facilities are much better compared to other institutes. Given that the fee per year is less than Rs.10000 per year, the facilities offered are truly amazing. The rooms are spacious and mess food is damn tasty. Plus, the feeling of being surrounded by a Muslim majority is truly amazing. I got to learn a lot of new things like the proper way to read Quran and offer Namaz, daily lifestyle of my Muslim brothers and their eating habits.

The three years at Jamia have given me much more than I could ever demand from an Instituion

Experience 2

By
Vivek Gupta, B.Tech. Computer Engineering, Jamia Millia Islamia

JMI is different from your regular DU college. It’s culture is much refined, you will meet people and with no awkwardness they will greet you with “salaam”. Yes there will be more number of Muslims around you but that by no means will make you feel like “minority”. I think the political religious lines are what one comes to see after getting into real adult world drawn by politics. Jamia makes you feel more at home infact , I made some of my life long friends here. We looked forward to having iftaar at campus in ramzaan as eagerly as having sweets during Diwali. Colors on holi used to be in air as fragrance of sevaiyan on Eid.

Faculty will never see students with different eyes over their religion, I myself was secretary at the biggest student society at Jamia, CSI jamia chapter, I also was placement coordinator who was elected by class with more than 70% muslims. A guy thoroughly delhi bred , with ardent Hindu family , I myself had doubts when I was joining Jamia, but I know I can never regret a day of it.
 
I am doing well in my life as software engineer with labels of brands like Adobe. Jamia is a world repute college with Alumnis’ in one of the best software ,construction, telecom, journalism brands. At the end it will be your fears which will hold you back because I don’t think any of my Jamia brothers will ever intimidate or hold back their brother.

Experience 3

By
Gaurav Tripathi, studied at Jamia Millia Islamia

Well! its mesmerizing. I can assure you by my graduation experience at university.

Let me start by saying w.r.t. religious distribution of students in different faculties. Its a yes, that more number of students following religion of Islam are studying but you can find a commendable number students from different religions like Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, Christian and others. Simply, university represents itself as a mini-India , learning and prospering together.

Nevertheless, The authorities are exactly similar to everybody. They won’t do work for any students on time. (Lol) I hope you’re aware even in IITs & IIMs few govt officials never change with time and generation. So, have patience ;-D

Moreover, the extra-curricular activities which are absolutely different from studies are immense. Let me tell you, that nowhere in India there are Jamia Millia-affiliated colleges. All students earn education in campus itself. With different departments and faculties.

Because of the above, if you get selected in Jamia, you’re lucky to have access to huge opportunities in your graduation years to participate in national and international events and festivals. Long story short, you have an opportunity to explore your real self. Get to know your strengths and weakness. Embrace different cultures and enhance inter-personality skills.

I am saying this because I have lived this lifestyle in university. Travelling became a habit. Representing your university at Nationals like National Youth Festival and Internationals like SAARC Universities Challenge is remarkable and dream come true at that age. Its not easy to do all this, everybody did not do this, honestly more than 90% didn’t. But this university provides a platform which is student-oriented.

Remember, only if you’re selected in, you can definitely do it. If I can do it brother, you can do it.

I can write much more about daily life at university but since your question is specific, I think I’m done here. Thus, jamia is multi-dimensional experience and one of best phases in a students life.

I am a proud Hindu and Jamian.

Experience 4

By
Versha Kandwal, studied B.Com at Jamia Millia Islamia

I guess this is the most frequent type of question asked by people. Well, here i am a student of JMI and a Hindu. I personally love jmi actually i can say it is my second home and i couldn’t have asked for a better college. It is just like any other college ( and i am saying this because i have seen it) ya you might find lots of people in abayas( hoping tht i spelled it right) but how does that change anything. I have been in Jamia for 2 years now and i have a circle of friends in which majority are muslim and they respect my religion as i respect theirs and they are more like family to me now. there are days when i forget that it is tuesday and no chicken day for me but they remind me( well i am that hindu who doesn’t have non veg on tuesdays:P ) Nobody cares if you are Hindu or Muslim if you are a nice person Jamia family will welcome you like it has welcomed all of us.

Jamia is such a happy place , well it is for me. I was in DU for a month or so and i felt like leaving that place because it was not as nice as i expected it to be but Jamia is a place now which i never want to leave. I have never come across a scenario where someone has differentiated between me being Hindu or someone being Muslim. It is all about who you are surrounding yourself with. Me being a girl i hang out with 5–6 boys ( no judging please) because we share equal level of craziness and only they can handle my craziness and all of them being Muslims. It actually feels very cool to be the only Hindu in a group you get to learn so many new words and i love to greet people with Salaam no one made me say it, it was my own choice. If you are not applying for jamia thinking it is a muslim university than i feel sad because you would be missing out a lot.

I actually feel privileged to be a JAMIAN and i adore this place, people in this place more than anyone. I can give you assurance that once you will be part of this family you will love Jamia.