Image: NDTV
Faizel Patel – 31/08/2021
A PhD scholar at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in India says the prestigious learning institution’s administration, the Indian government and law enforcement officials did not take any steps to address the attack of a student before he went missing and did not link the two
Heba Ahmed was speaking to Radio Islam about the disappearance of Najeeb Ahmed from JNU in the national capital of New Delhi on 15 October 2016, after a reported scuffle with members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and a student wing of the far-right Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
According to reports, nothing is known about the disappearance of the 31-year-old biotechnology student who was doing his masters at JNU.
Heba says the attack on Najeeb smacked of Islamophobia.
“According to the official narrative that Najeeb was the first one to hit them. But what happened later, it somehow contradicts this official narrative because there was a lot of attack which happened. He was given death threats, there anti-Muslim graffiti which was written on the dining table in that hostel and in the toilet, Islamophobic slurs were written.”
Heba says officials failed to “connect the dots” between Najeeb’s attack and disappearance.
“The university administration did not take any urgent step to address the fact that Najeeb was attacked and the attack which led to his disappearance. When the case was handled by the Delhi High Court, the CBI of the Indian government and even the Delhi police, none of them have taken cognizance of the fact that the disappearance was a result of the attack, so they treated the two incidents separately as if Najeeb disappeared of his own accord, vanished or ran away from campus.’
Heba says Najeeb’s mother Fatima Nafees has become an inspiration for other students who struggle on campus as she continues her own struggle for justice for her son.
“She has been beaten up by the Delhi police and faced a lot of these atrocities. At the same time has been very dedicated and she has not shifted an inch from her struggle.”
Heba says Fatima Nafees like all mothers who love their children is waiting for Najeeb to come back.
Listen to the interview with Heba Ahmed
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