By Campus Watch:
Editors’ Note: It has been 13 days since Najeeb Ahmad, a first year student from Jawaharlal Nehru University, went missing, reportedly after a brawl with members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) inside JNU’s Mahi Mandvi Hostel on October 14. Students have been regularly protesting since his disappearance and have reportedly been manhandled by the police during the protests as well. Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union, members of which were also present in the hostel at that time, and members of ABVP have two different versions as to what had happened. While JNUSU is accusing ABVP of communal violence, ABVP is accusing JNUSU of politicising the matter by giving it a communal colour. JNUSU along with many students alleged that the JNU administration didn’t take proper action following the incident. Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers Association too had termed it as a failure of the university administration in handling the matter. The administration countered these allegations with a rather defensive press release in which Najeeb was referred to as ‘the accused’ even though there was no proof as to what had actually happened. Recently, 23 witnesses from the hostel have given a statement according to which 10-15 members of ABVP assaulted Najeeb in front of the wardens. Even so, the administration has now released a 25-point bulletin stating the sequence of events of the brawl which has no mention of Najeeb being beaten up at all. Responding to the bulletin, JNUTA has issued a statement exposing the ‘deliberate’ omission by the JNU administration of the fact that Najeeb was beaten that night. Read the statement here.
The above statement released by the JNUTA was in response to the 25 point bulletin released by the JNU administration below:
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