There has been no news of Najeeb Ahmed since a panic call to his mother saying that 'something' had happened to him in campus three days ago
It was around 2 a.m. on Saturday that the phone rang in Fatima Nafees' home in Badaun in Uttar Pradesh. It was her son Najeeb Ahmed, a student in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). "Something has happened to me on campus. Please come soon," the mother recounts her son telling her.
Nafees left for Delhi shortly after the panic call, waiting perhaps for dawn. On the way, she got another call. "Ma, I'm waiting for you, he said. I told him not to worry. I am on the way," she says.
Three days later, there is still no sign of the 27-year-old, a first year biotechnology student who lives in room 106 of the Mahi Mandavi hostel. Amid allegations that members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) beat him up in a communal brawl and increasing anxiety, police arrived in the campus Monday evening.
"There were so many places he could have studied in but he chose JNU. I told him to think about it, but his mind was made up. He said JNU was reputed and affordable. When I find him, I'll take him home," an inconsolable Nafees tells dna from a corner at the University's administration block.
Ahmed allegedly went missing on Saturday following a brawl in the hostel the night before. New to the city, Ahmed arrived in JNU after finishing his graduation from Bareilly. While the JNUSU Students Union alleges a 'communal angle' to the brawl, students at the hostel insist that the incident was a "hostel quarrel blown out of proportion".
According to JNUSU president Mohit Pandey, who was reportedly present at the time, ABVP students physically threatened and intimidated Ahmed and "incited communal violence". Ahmed went missing the next day, Pandey says, claiming that a group of goons continued to hit the student even in front of the warden (and himself).
Eyewitness accounts have confirmed that a group of students affiliated to the ABVP roughed up Ahmed on Friday night.
On Monday, while administration officials were taking depositions from different eyewitnesses to establish the exact sequence of events, student activists from various parties could be seen outside the administration block demanding that a police complaint be filed immediately and that action be taken against those who hit the student.
At the hostel, however, the mood is quiet and sombre with students more focused on finding Ahmed rather than figuring out who was guilty.
"A student has been missing for more than 48 hours, and the issue has been politicised to the extent that everyone seems to be interested in pinning blame than finding Najeeb. For those staying at the hostel, finding Najeeb is the most important issue," says Alimuddin, president of the Mahi Mandavi hostel.
The JNU administration has now sprung into action and asked security to search the entire campus. Members of the administration have also met Ahmed's family and assured them that all possible action will be taken and that they are in touch with Delhi Police.
The campus is on edge as speculation continues over the whereabouts of Ahmed. Meanwhile, a mother waits for the phone to ring. "I can't help but pick every call. Whenever the phone rings, I think it's Najeeb."
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