It was Saturday, October 15. A scholar of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in his twenties went missing. Where Najeeb Ahmed has gone? What happened to him? Though answers to these are yet to come by, people continue demanding #JusticeForNajeeb.
In about two weeks since the incident happened, it became an issue of pan-India prominence as it continues to garner support from various quarters of the society.
Whether it is a case of abduction or something else is not known yet. But it’s clear by now that Najeeb was roughed up by some students allegedly associated with right-wing campus outfit Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) before his disappearance from the JNU campus.
Student unions and other organizations in Hyderabad too came forward to express solidarity with Najeeb and press authorities to trace him as early as possible.
In a public address in Hyderabad, President of Maualana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) Student Union Tajammul Islam criticized the JNU administration for not even making a public appeal to ensure the safe return of Najeeb.
He termed it “inhuman and unfortunate”, while adding that “not filing an FIR in this case by JNU administration is a matter of discrimination and shielding of culprits.”
Student activist Farhan Sumbul from SIO Telangana said the deafening silence of authorities on the issue was alarming.
“I see a hidden pattern in all the incidents of murders, lynching, thrashing , media trails and custodial deaths of Muslim youth at various parts of India in past two and half years.
We cannot isolate the incidents of Akhlaq, Minhaj and Najeeb. They all get connected with the hate sponsored by Hindutva ideology in this country” Sumbul remarked.
Unlike Akhlaq and Minhaj who were villagers, Najeeb was a bright and promising student of India’s reputed central university. “I am hopeful of his safe return”, said Sumbul.