Yogi Adityanath, known for not wasting time in expressing his animus against anyone and anything Muslim/Islamic, forgetting his oath to the Constitution of India, has used the Rampur Development Authority (RDA) to order the demolition of 38 out of 40 buildings in the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is also going overboard to announce that former MP Azam Khan had forcibly acquired the land from local villagers. There is no word on why legal action was not taken when the land was allegedly grabbed.A private university, the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University was established by the controversial Samajwadi leader Azam Khan, who is currently serving a jail sentence for the possession of dual PAN cards. Without going into the background and Khan’s questionable image, the university’s foundation by the Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust, is a commendable effort. The university today has approximately 3,000 students, 16 departments, 14 faculties and institutes, 55 academic staff and close to 1,000 employees. It is recognised by the University Grants Commission (UGC), which shows that the university is being run professionally.Has the university really ‘violated’ the building code? If yes, why? The RDA was established on April 15, 2005 and the university was inaugurated in 2006. The university’s defence against the land-grabbing allegations is that the campus in Singankhera village was under the Rampur district panchayat’s jurisdiction at the time of its construction. Building permission was taken from the panchayat authorities, and at the time, the RDA was either not in the picture or its jurisdiction was not defined. Therefore, the buildings were not unauthorised. However, the RDA and the district authorities, obviously acting on instructions from the chief minister, whose agenda has been clear to all, have rejected the university’s claims. Consequently, a notice has been served and the government and its administration are hell bent on the university’s demolition.Also read: ‘Absolutely Illegal’: Samajwadi Party Leader Tazeen Fatma on Bulldozers, Demolition Notice to Jauhar UniversityUP, India’s fourth largest state in area and the most populous one, has 262,000 schools, of which 86% are up to primary levels and only 12,164 cater to the higher levels. The state government runs only 36 universities. There are 35 private universities and the university in question is one among them. Obviously, given its large population and expanse, UP neither has sufficient numbers of schools, nor universities. Most of the universities are also traditionally constituted and structured and have not kept pace with the time to professionalise higher education.The Uttar Pradesh Private Universities Act was passed in 2019. Section 4 of the Act provides detailed guidelines for submitting a proposal for establishing a university by any private individual, group or trust. Only after an inspection, an examination of the proposal and the verification of possession of wherewithal by an applicant is the permission to set up a university granted. This follows another investigation by the UGC, which determines whether a university would be functional. In the process, sufficient land, funds and other such requirements are scrutinised in detail.The Mohammad Ali Jauhar University was instituted 13 years before the Private Universities Act was passed. Yet, the permission was granted. In 2006, Mulayam Singh Yadav, founder of the Samajwadi Party, was the chief minister. Obviously, permission must have come easily. However, two important things must be noted. First, did the trust have the requisite land? And second, has the university been able to create sufficient academic resources and infrastructure? The expanse available with the university shows that it has the land. This raises the following question: Is this land under dispute? Yes. However, we have no information regarding the acquisition or purchase of the land. Now that the university has been in existence for the past two decades and has created infrastructure to impart professional education to over 3,000 students, a capacity that is commendable and can be expanded, the UP government should be circumspect in considering its demolition or closure. In case it finds issues with its functioning, teaching or any other part of its operation, the most it should do is to acquire it and streamline the existing weaknesses. A committee of experts from the UGC should be set up to examine various aspects of its functioning without disturbing the academic calendar and activities and reforms should be introduced on the basis of its recommendations. I shall conclude by asserting that the university buildings must not be demolished.Ajay K. Mehra is a political scientist and Senior Fellow at the Centre for Multilevel Federalism. He was Atal Bihari Vajpayee Senior Fellow, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi, and Principal, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Evening College, Delhi University.The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not represent those of his institution.