Najeeb Ahmed row: JNU Vice Chancellor urges agitating students to unite against politicising the case

As the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus heats up following the disappearance of Najeeb Ahmed a week ago, university Vice Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar, on Sunday, urged the agitating students to co-operate with the investigation, and termed a protest gathering outside his residence “unfortunate”.

The incident has led the campus to be on boil, yet again, with agitating students keeping Kumar and other senior officials under siege for over 20 hours alleging inaction on the administration’s part.

In a series of tweets, Kumar said the blockade outside his house will not help the search for Najeeb and urged the students to share any information they have regarding the missing student with the administration and the police.

Kumar also urged the JNU community to unite against politicising the case.

Appeal to JNU community made on 23 October 2016. pic.twitter.com/gJYCb7d97O

— Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar (@mamidala90) October 23, 2016

Appeal to JNU Student Union made on 23 October 2016. pic.twitter.com/YR5BGuQ6om

— Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar (@mamidala90) October 23, 2016

We are doing all we can to trace the missing JNU student Najeeb Ahmed. Now, agitating students have blocked entrance to my residence.

— Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar (@mamidala90) October 23, 2016

Agitating students.. please understand, by shouting slogans and blocking entrance to my residence, we cannot trace Najeeb.

— Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar (@mamidala90) October 23, 2016

I am meeting the Delhi police commissioner tomorrow with regard to JNU missing student. Please stop this agitation and help find Najeeb.

— Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar (@mamidala90) October 23, 2016

Repeated appeals to cooperate and not agitate have fallen on deaf ears of student agitators. This is unfortunate.

— Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar (@mamidala90) October 23, 2016

You can see the blockade to my JNU residence by agitating students. This will not take us anywhere. pic.twitter.com/o8tM8c7sKS

— Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar (@mamidala90) October 23, 2016

By holding a huge gathering and shouting slogans in front of JNU VC residence, can Najeeb be found? We are doing our best to trace him.

— Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar (@mamidala90) October 23, 2016

Earlier, a fellow student who was present during the brawl between Najeeb and few ABVP supporters, claimed that attempts were made to kill Najeeb.

Najeeb, a student of School of Biotechnology at the university, went missing on 15 October allegedly following a brawl on the campus with members of ABVP on 14 October.

An FIR for kidnapping and wrongfully confining a person was lodged at Vasant Kunj North police station after the police received a complaint from the student’s guardians.

“I heard some noises from the first floor. When I rushed down I saw Najeeb was bleeding from the mouth and nose. We called the warden and took Najeeb to help him wash himself in the bathroom.

“But few students came and thrashed Najeeb inside the bathroom. They were shouting that he should not be spared,” said Shahid Raza Khan, an M Phil student at JNU’s School of International Studies (SIS).

The ABVP, however, rubbished the allegations as baseless.

“If he was beaten up that badly, why did not the warden get a medical test conducted. Where are the reports? There are none because he wasn’t attacked,” Alok Singh, President of JNU’s ABVP unit said.

Following protests by students, Home Minister Rajnath Singh had directed Delhi Police to set up a Special Investigating Team (SIT) to trace the missing student.

Meanwhile, the left affiliated All India Students Association (AISA) which is running a campaign, “Bring back Najeeb”, staged a protest at Delhi University on Saturday.

“From Muzaffarnagar to Dadri and now JNU we are witnessing a clear pattern in the intimidation, violence, and the creation of a vicious atmosphere followed by displacement and disappearances of Muslims throughout the country. This has to be resisted tooth and nail,” said AISA leader Kawalpreet Kaur.

With inputs from PTI