“Where is Najeeb”? echoed during the nationwide protests for a 27- year old Muslim student who disappeared suddenly from the hostel campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi after allegedly being attacked by members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad ABVP, a student wing of the extremist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
October 15, 2024 marks eight years since Najeeb Ahmed’s disappearance. On October 14 2016, Najeeb, a first-year masters student of biotechnology, was attacked by nine members of the ABVP who knocked on his door seeking votes for the upcoming hostel elections.
A protest march was held by JNUSU today from Ganga to Sabarmati under the banner of “On Ammi’s call, Join protest march.
Slogans like “Aat saal se Najeeb hai ghayab, kon hai iska zimmedar?( Najeeb has been missing since eight years, who is responsible?)”
Protesters were heard chanting “We are Najeeb,” Najeeb ko dhundke lao ( Bring back Najeeb)
Students Federation of India (SFI) JNU unit, today, posted on X , “8 years of enforced disappearance of Najeeb, we will not stop asking this regime — where is Najeeb?” Several X users tweeted with a hashtag “BringbackNajeeb”.
Almost a decade long fight for justice
Although the case of Najeeb was investigated by Delhi Police, Special Investigation Team, Crime Branch of Delhi police and by The Central Bureau of Investigation, all the agencies were accused of not conducting a thorough investigation and for the lack of accountability of the accused.
Fathima Nafees, the courageous mother of Najeeb, continues to fight alongside her husband and youngest son while she awaits the return of her eldest son whose whereabouts are unknown till today. Fathima holds on to her firm faith in Allah hoping that somewhere in the country, Najeeb is still alive.
“I still believe that he is alive and has been kept in some jail in the country and he will come back one day,” Fathima had said to the Anadolu Agency after five years of his enforced disappearance.
“There are many Muslim youngsters in jails without any crime, putting Najeeb will just add to the number. There is no value of a Muslim in this country,” she had said.
Protests that erupted soon after Najeeb’s disappearance were joined by many organizations, unions and politicians but slowly as time passed, the protests and rallies decreased.
Initially Delhi Police investigated the case then the Crime Branch of the Delhi police took it and finally The Central Bureau of Investigation was given the case. Since the investigation did not make any progress، Nafees knocked on the doors of Delhi High Court. In May 2017, the court handed the case over to the CBI but by the end of the year Nafees alleged that the CBI was not interrogating the nine suspects on its list.
Najeeb’s family alleged that all the investigating agencies were trying to protect the nine suspects and weaken the case.
