No trace of Najeeb ten years after he was beaten by Hindutva right-wing ABVP members at JNU

It has been ten years since Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Najeeb Ahmad disappeared after being assaulted by members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), yet investigating agencies remain groping in the dark, with no one held accountable for the incident.

While the question of who was responsible for his forced disappearance remains unanswered, allegations that the then left-led students’ union had itself contributed to his criminalisation have cast a further shadow over the prolonged denial of justice.

The Bhagat Singh Ambedkar Students’ Association (BAPSA), the Fraternity Movement and the Muslim Students’ Federation (MSF) have called a joint “Justice for Najeeb” march at JNU on 14 October, ahead of the tenth anniversary of his disappearance.

The march will begin at 9 pm from Barak Hostel and proceed to Ganga Dhaba, with the organisations demanding accountability from those responsible and answers about the missing student.

In a joint statement titled “Does JNU Remember Najeeb?”, the organisations alleged that the university administration, investigating agencies and the then JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) leadership had helped construct a narrative portraying Najeeb as a culprit rather than a victim of violence.

Najeeb, a first-year MSc Biotechnology student, disappeared on 15 October after being allegedly assaulted by an ABVP-affiliated group at his hostel the previous night, with his alleged assailants portraying the attack as retaliation, while anti-Muslim stereotypes and unsubstantiated allegations diverted attention from the violence.

The joint statement by the organisations argued that the signing of letters depicting Najeeb as a criminal and mentally ill by the then JNUSU president, Mohit Pandey of the All India Students’ Association (AISA), and another AISA student, and their submission to the hostel authorities, had been reflected in the responses of the university administration and investigating agencies.

The organisations also criticised the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which stated in May 2018 that it had found no evidence of a crime against Najeeb, alleging investigative lapses, including the failure to conduct custodial interrogation of his alleged assailants and to examine three mobile phones that were pattern-locked.

According to the statement, early investigative narratives also included claims that Najeeb had gone to Jamia, had been seen in Darbhanga or had joined the Islamic State (ISIS). The organisations said the Delhi High Court had rejected ISIS-related news reports as false, while accusing the agencies of allowing suspicion to overshadow efforts to establish his whereabouts.

They further alleged that the then students’ union leadership failed to mobilise campus solidarity during the crucial first 40 hours after his disappearance, while Muslim students’ concerns about targeted violence were marginalised.

“We are not here to simply mark this day,” the statement said, rejecting explanations that Najeeb had vanished without a trace.

The organisations pledged to continue supporting his mother, Fatima Nafees, and his family, insisting that the passage of a decade must not extinguish demands for answers, accountability and justice.