JNU to transfer hostels of 4 ABVP students

ALMOST TWO months after Najeeb Ahmad went missing from campus, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration on Thursday “identified” four Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists as being involved in a “scuffle” with him and recommended “immediate transfer” from their hostels.

It has also recommended a “strong warning” so that they do not repeat such a “scuffle” in future. The decision was taken on the basis of a proctorial enquiry, which had earlier issued showcause notices to the four students after finding them “involved in hitting” Najeeb, who went missing from campus on October 15 after an altercation with ABVP activists.

“The office of the chief proctor has submitted its Proctorial Enquiry Report on the incident of Mahi-mandavi Hostel. The report has identified the students involved in the reported scuffle and has recommended their immediate transfer from their hostel,” read a statement by the Office of the Dean of Students.

The four ABVP activists are Vikrant Kumar, Ankit Roy, Vijender Thakur and Aishwarya Pratap Singh, sources said. “They will be required to change their hostels,” said a university official.

The decision, however, has come under attack from the Najeeb’s family, the ABVP as well as the JNU students’ union (JNUSU). While the ABVP said the facts were “fabricated” and the decision was “unacceptable”, Najeeb’s family and JNUSU said change of hostels was “no punishment at all”.

With regard to the initial decision of changing Najeeb’s hostel on the basis of his alleged confession on October 14 night that he had slapped Vikrant, the university said, “The V-C has approved the report and has suggested that after Najeeb is found, disciplinary action awarded by the warden’s committee for vacating hostel premises by Mr Ahmad may be revisited.”