As time is moving forward, there is a mother who is still out there clueless of what happened to her son and is hopeful of his arrival someday. It has been four years since Najeeb Ahmed, a JNU student went missing following a brawl with the student members of ABVP, a right wing body affiliated to RSS and BJP.
Unfortunately, his four years long disappearance has begun to fade into oblivion under the headlines of the regular news. However, his mother, Fatima Nafees, despite her physical limitations, is still on the hunt to find where her son is.
Najeeb went missing from his hostel, Maha Mandvi on the university campus under suspicious circumstances on 15 October 2016. This was following after an alleged scuffle between Najeeb and the student members of ABVP the previous night regarding the upcoming election in the campus.
As soon as the incident was informed, Fatima boarded a train from Badaun in western Uttar Pradesh to the national capital. During the journey, Najeeb had called and spoke to her. But by the time she got to JNU, the news of her son's disappearance was waiting for her.
JNU officials and police initially reiterated that there was no connection between the ABVP's attack on Najeeb and his disappearance. All attempts to wipe out the case went to one side. However, it was the struggles of Fatima Nafees that brought the case to national attention.
Police and state media fabricated many stories that Najeeb left the campus on his own free will and he was mentally ill and a terrorist. But Fatima Nafees did not give up on the fake story and went ahead with the legal battle. Eventually, the CBI gave up and the legal battle was called off. The CBI had closed its probe on October 15, 2018, stating that their attempt to trace Najeeb had not been successful. However, they are still struggling with the question of where Najeeb is.
Clinging on to hope, Fatima still believes that Najeeb is alive.
"My mind tells me that nothing bad has happened to him yet. His kidnappers are hiding somewhere else. And I will continue to fight until he returns", says Fatima even after four years of his disappearance.
Najeeb grew up in a two-room house in Badaun, Uttar Pradesh. It took him four years to become a medical student. He then graduated with a degree in biotechnology from a private university in Bareilly. In 2016, he passed the entrance examination at JNU. He was a hard-working student and nothing will throw him away.
"He will not leave his mother and go anywhere on his own," says Fatima.
(This report published at madhyamam.com is translated by Fathima Shareef)