It has been a month since Jawaharlal Nehru University student Najeeb Ahmed went missing from the campus. The JNUSU, the varsity’s students’ union, has called for a “Chalo JNU” procession and a protest meeting to mark the day.
After country-wide protests that included burning the effigy of Vice-Chancellor Jagadesh Kumar and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh over the weekend, the union has invited students and groups from across the country to participate in the programme that will start at Ganga Dhaba at 3 p.m. on November 15. Various organisations on campus like Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association (BAPSA) and the Democratic Students Union have appealed to JNUSU to set an ultimatum for the administration. If the administration did not meet the demands by 5:00 pm on November 15, the JNUSU should call for a blockade of the Admin-block.
The students say their demands have not changed: Take effective steps to find Najeeb, file an FIR on the violence against him and declare that the campus will be out of bounds for the assailants. The students allege that even the Proctorial inquiry report, which was supposed to have been ready 10 days ago, has not been made available to them. Neither have they been given any indication when it will be put out.
Warns of actionMeanwhile, the JNU administration has issued a circular warning students that disciplinary action will be taken against those who “repeatedly violate university rules by staging protests and sit-ins and hold officials in confinement.” The “rule-breaking students” have been asked to immediately desist from such acts.
Over the past month, there have been protests outside the Delhi Police Headquarters, Vasant Vihar PS, India Gate and Jantar Mantar, besides the campus itself, with Najeeb’s family joining the students in demanding justice for Najeeb. Najeeb’s mother had said in a media interaction earlier that she had lost all faith in the JNU administration.