3 years since he went missing, Najeeb’s mom keeps fight alive

Missing Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Najeeb Ahmed’s mother on Tuesday held a protest at Jantar Mantar, demanding justice for her son who had disappeared from the university campus in mysterious circumstances on this day three years ago.

Students from many universities, including JNU, Delhi University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Jamia Hamdard and Aligarh Muslim University, attended the protest.

“I am overwhelmed by the support I received from across the country in the last three years. I would have given up long back if these students from different universities were not standing with me. It’s been over three years and my son is still missing. I will not give up and continue to fight for the justice,” said Nafees, who hails from Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun district.

Najeeb, 27, a first-year MSc student at JNU, went missing on October 15, 2016, from his hostel at the campus. He allegedly got into a fight with some members of the RSS-backed Akhil Bhartiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) at the hostel, a night before. The case was handed over to the CBI in May 2017, after the Delhi police failed to find any breakthrough. In October last year, CBI closed the case.

Fatima Nafees was joined by Shahista Parveen, wife of Tabrez Ansari, who was allegedly lynched in Jharkhand last month, and Kavita Lankesh, sister of slain journalist Gauri Lankesh. “All we want is justice. I am here to demand justice for my husband,” Parveen said. Author Arundhati Roy and lawyer Prashant Bhushan also joined in to extend solidarity with Nafees.