This ethnographic essay explores the paradoxical position of the security guards at Jamia Millia Islamia, examining how they are simultaneously enforcers of institutional authority and subjects of systemic precarity and marginalisation. Drawing from informal conversations and everyday observations, the piece reveals how these contractual workers are deployed as political instruments within an increasingly authoritarian and surveillance-heavy campus environment, particularly during moments of student dissent.

Through a reflexive and critical lens, the essay interrogates the guards’ role in upholding institutional control, their precarious labor conditions, and the ways in which their social identity—particularly as Muslims—shapes their engagement with power, resistance, and moral policing. By highlighting instances of both complicity and quiet solidarity, this work complicates simplistic binaries of oppressor and oppressed, offering insight into how power, labour, identity, and dissent intersect in contemporary university spaces.

As i delve into the title “Guards of Jamia”, I emphasise my individual encounter with The Guards of Jamia as a Student of Jamia and how they have been used as a political tool within, which encompasses their positionality as a worker who have to fall in with, abide by and to submit to the orders given by those in the position of power.

The state of authoritarianism as of the majoritarian government encompasses at greater intensity in the minority institutions and Jamia Millia Islamia is a first hand receiver of such authoritarianism directly by the government. The following pretext can be explained with what happened in 2019-20 during the CAA-NRC protest in which Jamia played an imperative role by contesting its dissent with regards to the systematic exclusion of the position of minorities in this country.

 Dissent comes with a cost in this New India, and the guards of Jamia stand at the crossroads of power and vulnerability—both enforcers of institutional control and subjects of it.

Guards’ as political tool of authority

Amidst growing student dissent against the majoritarian government on issues of minority identity, exclusionary state policies that directly target Muslims, and the incarceration of student political prisoners—Jamia Millia Islamia stands at the forefront of resistance. In this charged environment ‘Guards of Jamia’ are not only someone who “enforces” dictatorial authority flowing from their Administrator’s Administrator but also remains at vulnerability as of their identity being contractual workers and this vulnerability increases further with the Muslim Identity.

The Guards of Jamia embody a paradoxical identity—marginalised by the very structures they serve, yet simultaneously tasked with exerting control over students. This dual positioning reveals a complex contradiction at the heart of their existence, where they navigate the roles of both the oppressed and the enforcer.

The systemic violence by the state in Jamia’s library during 15 December, 2019 was a direct attack on education, dissent and on the governing constitution of this country. Jamia Millia Islamia’s guards were at the position of vulnerability over their very association to Jamia and  even more if the ‘guards’ belonged to the muslim identity.

What binds students and workers in this shared struggle is their common identity as part of the university— one as a learner, the other as a worker— both positioned within structures of power that render them vulnerable in different ways.  While showing the vulnerability of them as workers within institutional frameworks we cannot cease to ignore the moral policing that comes through them, along with it. The moral policing is something that shows their social disposition within the society and it manifests itself in even more ‘sexist’ in  nature to the women protestors.

The complexity with and within their “state” makes me take up the following theme, to showcase their subjected vulnerability within, as of their identity which manifests patriarchal in nature at times, while also having a sense of personal, individual sympathy for students especially when they are subjected to restriction, expulsion within their own campus spaces.  Lately, due to the orders from the proctor office over the confiscation of identity cards of students who are graduating from their respective courses has led to another situation of violation of rights of the  bonafide students over the entry within their own campus. The guards paradoxically exert pressure on the students for their student identity card defending the administrator’s administrator rule over the campus gates with personal questions and sometimes interrogation. They’re wielding authority, interrogating students, and upholding an oppressive administrative agenda at the gates all while being oppressed themselves.

The expulsion of 17 Students from Jamia in February, 2025 over them not being allowed to protest within the campus was something that was ‘enforced’ further through the guards. On the surface, the guards are required to enforce administrative orders, yet their familiarity with students creates a personal bond of affection and conformity yet still making them the enforcers of authoritarian code of conduct.

When these same students face violence or expulsion, the guards find themselves in a conflicted position—Compelled to carry out orders while also feeling a sense of sympathy, they navigate a conflicted position. However, this sympathy is not uniform; it manifests in a patriarchal manner, particularly with their interactions with female students or protestors.

Their social disposition often reinforces the prevailing patriarchal ethos—particularly in relation to female students—positioning them as gatekeepers of what is considered acceptable. The instance or an of a female student  smoking which should be considered injurious to health manifests into character assasination for women. The following instance reveals how they police gendered norms, deciding what is permissible for whom and the character assassination that comes along with it. When made accountable this moment also exposed the fluidity of their (guards) perceptions; through direct interaction, as in my case, their stance revealed a capacity for reflection and change.

Institutional Surveillance and Fear

Another important point to emphasize is the institutional surveillance imposed on security guards themselves. The installation of CCTV cameras at their posts becomes a tool that not only monitors them but is also politically weaponized to control and regulate student activities within the politically charged campus space of Jamia Millia Islamia.

The obedience which is very much subjected within is something that is not passive rather aggressive in its nature and is further propagated by the threat of penalties, including the potential termination of their contracts if they are perceived as lenient or flexible in their surveillance of students.

Labour Precarity and Contractualisation

Contractualisation also strips guards of the ability to collectively bargain or resist exploitative working conditions. Most are overworked, underpaid, and denied access to basic labor rights. As a result, they are often compelled to act as enforcers of institutional power despite personally identifying with or sympathizing with the student body they are made to surveil.

Moreover, the threat of job loss discourages dissent or even dialogue. It creates a hierarchical structure where guards become tools in a top-down chain of command, carrying out directives that align with political objectives — such as monitoring, disciplining, or even suppressing student activism. In a campus like Jamia Millia Islamia, which has a strong political and activist presence, this dynamic becomes especially pronounced. Surveillance is not neutral — it is embedded in power relations — and the guards, due to their precarious position, become both the watched and the watchers in this matrix.

The imperative need and positionality to have trade unions within the university campus spaces to ensure workers rights in terms of permanent contracts, overtime compensation, collective bargaining, legal support, paid leave among many others is the need of the hour.

Moments of Solidarity and Tension

The moments of solidarity and tension appear deeply intertwined. As previously mentioned, the attack on Jamia Millia Islamia on 15th December 2019 was not just an act of violence, but a calculated attempt by the state to subjugate a minority institution. The armed invasion—carried out with lathis, guns, and tear gas—was not just an act of suppression, but a symbolic siege. It laid bare the state’s intent: to criminalize dissent, to target identity, and to assert control through fear. However, amidst this systematic assault, the campus also witnessed powerful moments of solidarity — particularly between the security guards and the students. Despite their vulnerable position within the institution, some guards stood with the students, offering protection, empathy, or even quiet resistance, revealing the complex, often contradictory roles they are made to occupy within structures of power.

The following instance is not being revealed as an act of heroism, but as humane moments—acts that complicate the binary of “oppressor-oppressed”. The Guards of Jamia are not merely institutional functionaries; they are both participants in it and the victim of  casualties of a political system that breeds and sustains itself by policing dissent, identity and labour.

Author's note: This essay is grounded in my interactions and everyday observations of the guards at Jamia Millia Islamia. It draws from conversations, daily encounters, and lived experience within the campus.

- The author is a masters student at the Centre for the Study of Social Inclusion, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. Her research interest lies in intersectional feminism, workers rights, rights of tribal entities and the study of violence.

Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official stance of any institution or organization.