The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) attacked the Delhi Police on Monday for the delay in searching the campus thoroughly, and for doing so only after being directed by the High Court, that too 65 days after Najeeb Ahmed’s disappearance.
Demands ignored
JNUSU president Mohit Pandey said, “In the last three court hearings, the counsel for the Crime Branch accepted that there had been a delay on the Delhi Police’s part in searching for Najeeb. Despite several representations by the JNUSU and Najeeb’s mother about searching the green area and solitary spots on campus, the Delhi Police did not pay heed to our demands. Now after the court’s order, the Delhi Police appear to have come out of their slumber, only to pay lip service.”
Questioning the seriousness of the authorities in looking for Najeeb, Mr. Pandey said that many important details had already been lost due to the delay. In a statement, the JNUSU said that the police appeared to be clueless about how to find Najeeb, even as his “assaulters” roamed free.
‘Mockery of justice’
“In a mockery of justice, the police worked like a puppet of the government. Now, they are doing absurd exercises to save their face in front of the court. The intentional delay by the Delhi Police must be investigated,” the statement read.
JNUSU vice-president Amal Pullarkkat said that the union would cooperate with the police, but added that they had already made it clear that students, teachers and staff were not disturbed. He also suggested that the police, accompanied by the students’ union leaders, search the Vice-Chancellor’s residence.
Members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), meanwhile, said that they wanted the police to leave no stone unturned in their search of Najeeb. However, they did lash out at the JNUSU and JNU Teachers’ Association(JNUTA) for the heavy police presence on campus.
“After 1983, this is the first time that such a huge number of policemen have come on campus. This is a result of directionless politics of the JNUSU and JNUTA. Why are all those who earlier spoke against police presence on campus silent today?” asked former JNUSU joint secretary and ABVP leader Saurabh Sharma.