Najeeb Ahmed | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1989 |
| Disappeared | 15 October 2016 (age 27) Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India |
| Status | Missing for 7 years, 7 months and 29 days (Case closed by CBI. No progress made — 2016-10-15). |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Education | M.Sc (Biotechnology) |
| Parents |
|
Najeeb Ahmed was a student of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India, who went missing from his hostel on the university campus under suspicious circumstances on 15 October 2016. [2] [3] [4]
A native of Badaun, Uttar Pradesh, Najeeb Ahmed was a first year M.Sc. Biotechnology student at JNU, who resided at the Mahi-Mandavi hostel on the university campus for less than a week before he disappeared on 15 October 2016. His family, as well as the JNU Students' Union, have consistently maintained that Ahmed's disappearance was linked to an assault which occurred the previous night. Ahmed was attacked by nine members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) after they had allegedly knocked on his door seeking votes for an upcoming hostel election. [5]
Subsequently, his family demanded that the proper investigative agencies look further into the assault and his disappearance. [6] On 25 November 2016, Ahmed's mother, Fatima Nafees, filed a habeas corpus petition before the Delhi High Court, claiming that the Delhi Police had failed to make any progress in the month after her son's disappearance. [7]
The police filed a First Information Report (FIR) for kidnapping and wrongful confinement based on Fatima Nafees's complaint on 15 October 2016. [8] Premier investigative agencies in India, including a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Delhi Police, the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police, and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), have been unable to find any leads. All of these agencies were reprimanded by the Delhi High Court at various points for their poorly executed investigation into the case. [9] [10] The Delhi police spent approximately 24,55,600 rupees (US $32,869.53 as of 1 November 2020) advertising Ahmed’s disappearance. [11]
After 25 days, the investigation was transferred to the Crime Branch. CCTV footage was found that led the investigators to identify the rickshaw that Ahmed reportedly took from the JNU campus. [12] The mobile phones of the nine ABVP members accused of assaulting Ahmed were sent by the CBI to the forensic science laboratory in Chandigarh and 122 gigabytes of data were extracted from six of the phones. However, the data did not reveal any relevant information.
On 29 June 2017, the CBI announced a reward of 1 million rupees (US $13,385.54) for information about Najeeb Ahmed. [13]
In one of their submissions to the Delhi High Court, the CBI accused the Delhi Police of forcing a false statement from an auto driver who said that he had driven Ahmed to Jamia Milia Islamia on the day of his disappearance. [14] The Delhi Police had used this fabricated evidence to pursue a theory that Ahmed had left the campus on his own volition. [15] It had also used Ahmed's medical history to assert that he was mentally disturbed. [16] [17] After being unable to prove any connection between his medical condition and his disappearance, the Delhi Police quietly dropped this line of investigation. [18]
Fatima Nafees issued legal notices to prominent publications including Times of India, Times Now, and Zee News for falsely reporting that her son had connections to the terrorist group ISIS. [19]
In May 2019, the court asked the CBI whether Ahmed is alive or dead, to which the CBI responded that the last time Ahmed was seen was with his friend, and he must have been in hiding. His mother Fatima Nafees opposed the statement and demanded a hearing. [20]
The JNU administration was accused of partisanship and inaction in protecting the 9 students accused of assaulting Ahmed by the JNU student community. They blockaded the administration for 20 hours on 23 October 2016 [21] because it had issued circulars calling Ahmed "an accused" which angered students on campus. The administration also issued a 25 - point bulletin on Ahmed which did not mention his assault the night before. The JNU Teachers' Association blamed them for being apathetic and showing bias in how the issue was handled. [22] They also criticized the bulletin for 'selectively omitting' the fact that Ahmed was attacked during a brawl a night before. [23] Fatima Nafees also accused the JNU administration of insensitivity. [24]
On June 2017, the JNU Students' Union said that two JNUSU members and two other students (including Umar Khalid) have been fined by the university administration for 20,000 rupees each and was issued immediate hostel transfer, for seeking justice for Najeeb... "while Najeeb’s assaulters were ‘rewarded’ with just hostel transfers and allowed to roam around on the campus freely, besides continuing to threaten those who witnessed assaults on Najeeb". [25]
Fatima Nafees has frequently joined activists in protests against the central government and the JNU administration. She joined the JNU Students Union in the Light a Ray of Hope protest in 2016. [26] She addressed a campaign by Jamaat-e-Islami's student organization, SIO, on 22 March 2017 and also inaugurated an exhibition by the SIO in Malappuram in 2018. [27] Fatima Nafees joined Kavitha Lankesh, Professor Apoorva and Shaista Parveen, in a public meeting in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar for the third anniversary of Ahmed's disappearance, joining BSP minister Danish Ali, author Arundhati Roy, Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan, and St. Stephen’s College professor Nandita Narain in 2019. [28] She also joined N Sai Balaji, the National President of All India Students' Association, at JNU on 23 November 2019, [29] then campaigned for Kanhaiya Kumar in Begusarai during the 2019 parliamentary elections. [30] Fatima Nafees joined Nadeem Khan of "United Against Hate", who is also an Assistant Secretary of Jamaat-e-Islami, at a press conference on 4 October 2019. [31] [32]
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the domestic crime investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and governmental corruption, in 1965 it received expanded jurisdiction to investigate breaches of central laws enforceable by the Government of India, multi-state organised crime, multi-agency or international cases. The agency has been known to investigate several economic crimes, special crimes, cases of corruption and other cases. CBI is exempted from the provisions of the Right to Information Act. CBI is India's officially designated single point of contact for liaison with the Interpol.
Jawaharlal Nehru University is a public research university located in Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university is known for leading faculties and research emphasis on social sciences and applied sciences.
The Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO) is the students' wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind. It was formed in 1982. According to its constitution, its aims are presenting Da’wah before students and youth and promoting virtues and moral values in educational institutions.
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) (transl. All India Students' Council) is a right-wing all India student organisation affiliated to the Hindu nationalist organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
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The National Students' Union of India(NSUI) is the student wing of the Indian National Congress (INC or Congress). It was established on the 9th of April, 1971, founded by Indira Gandhi after merging the Kerala Students Union and the West Bengal State Chhatra Parishad to form a national students' organisation. Varun Choudhary is current National President of NSUI.
Nehru College of Engineering and Research Centre (NCERC) is a private engineering college situated in Thiruvilwamala in Thrissur District of Kerala, India. The college is approved by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) New Delhi and accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). It was featured in the news in January 2017, following the suicide of a student because he was allegedly harassed by the college authorities for purported malpractices during an examination. This incident has sparked a chain reaction in Kerala where hundreds of students have now come out to share the horrific tales of torture and harassment in the state’s self-financed colleges.
The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union or JNUSU is a students' union at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
Kanhaiya Kumar is an Indian political activist who served as the president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union and leader of the All India Students Federation (AISF). He served as National Executive Council member of Communist Party of India. He joined Indian National Congress on 28 September 2021 and has been appointed as the AICC in-charge of the National Student's Union of India.
On 9 February 2016, some students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) held a protest on their campus against the capital punishment meted out to the 2001 Indian Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, and Kashmiri separatist Maqbool Bhat. The organisers of the event were former members of the Democratic Students' Union (DSU). The event was held despite the university administration withdrawing permission for the event shortly before it was due to begin, due to protests by members of the student union of ABVP. The event saw clashes between various student groups. A video was circulated by an Indian news channel, Zee News, in which a small group of individuals, whom a later university-investigation described as outsiders to the university wearing masks, shouted "anti-India" slogans.
Shehla Rashid Shora is an Indian human rights activist who has pursued her Ph.D. at Jawaharlal Nehru University. She was vice-president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) in 2015–16 and was a member of the All India Students Association (AISA). She rose to prominence whilst leading the student agitation calling for the release for Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and others who were arrested on charges of sedition in February 2016 for participating and organizing sloganeering in JNU.
Pinjra Tod is a collective of women students and alumni of colleges from across Delhi, India, that seeks to make regulations for hostel and paying guest (PG) accommodation less restrictive for women students. They aim to counter a perceived official narrative that women need to be protected. Challenging what they consider to be the CCTV-driven police-security complex, Pinjra Tod demands that concepts of safety and security not be used to silence women's right to mobility and liberation.
Umar Khalid is an Indian student activist, a former research scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), former leader of Democratic Students' Union (DSU) in JNU. He was allegedly involved in the JNU sedition row and is an accused under the UAPA law. Khalid is also associated with United Against Hate, a campaign founded along with Nadeem Khan in July 2017 in response to the series of lynchings.
Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students' Association (BAPSA) is a student organization formed on 15 November 2014 at Jawaharlal Nehru University on the anniversary of Birsa Munda's birth. It claims to work for student rights and the issues affecting Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, OBCs and other minority groups. BAPSA says it stands for assertion, follows Ambedkarite ideology and is critical of both left and right-wing forces on campus. BAPSA is also active in Central University of Gujarat.
Student violence has become a serious issue for universities and colleges of India. The type of student violence can vary from political rivalries to shootings to sexual harassment.
On 5 January 2020, more than 50 masked people armed with rods, sticks and acid attacked the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, and injured more than 39 students and teachers. Many students received serious injuries. Professors who tried to intervene and protect the students, as well as ambulances carrying injured individuals, were attacked. Eyewitnesses stated that police within the campus did not intervene to stop the mob. After attacking residents of the university campus for three hours, the mob escaped; none of its members was arrested or detained. All 36 students who were injured and admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi (AIIMS) were discharged within 24 hours.
The Fraternity Movement is a student-youth party in India working for strengthening democracy, social justice and fraternity. It is a growing student organization in many regions of India especially in West Bengal, Kerala and Delhi. The Fraternity Movement is directly linked to Welfare Party of India.
Rekha Palli is a sitting judge of the Delhi High Court in India. She has been the judge in a number of politically significant cases, including those relating to the disqualification of Aam Aadmi Party MLAs, the qualifications for enrolment in the Central Industrial Security Force, and the disappearance of Delhi University student Najeeb Ahmad. As a counsel, Palli also represented Indian Air Force officers in a significant case that resulted in ending of a discriminatory practice that denied the grant of permanent commissions to female officers.
Aishe Ghosh is an Indian politician and student activist. She is a former President of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union and is a Member of the Students' Federation of India. She was also the CPI(M) candidate from Jamuria constituency for 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election and lost to Hareram Singh.
Nadeem Khan is a human rights activist in India serving as the National Secretary of Association for Protection of Civil Rights and Founder of UAH, actively contributing to its cause. His activism extends various communal violence incidents across India including the Bihar Communal Violence, Ram Navami Violence, and Kasganj violence of 2018. He also aligned the victims with others for sponsorship.
