Condemn the Latest Fascist Attempt to Push Najeeb’s Case into Oblivion
On 30th June, the Delhi High Court accepted the Central Bureau of Investigation’s report to close the case of Najeeb Ahmad, a student of Jawaharlal Nehru University who has been missing for the last eight years. Najeeb went missing from Mahi-Mandavi hostel on October 15, 2016, following an assault by the ABVP goons during the hostel elections.
From the very beginning, the state, the police and the JNU administration, then led by Vice Chancellor Mamidala Jagadish Kumar consistently tried to push Najeeb’s case into cold storage, a deliberate act in protecting those involved. Mamidala filed a missing complaint with the Delhi Police only after he was gheraoed by the students. At no point did the administration initiate a genuine inquiry at its level, nor did it try to hold the police accountable for a transparent investigation, evidently failing in ensuring the safety and security of the common students of JNU.
The mainstream media played a complicit role as well by consistently and actively amplifying the fascist islamophobic narratives that defamed Najeeb and his family. The media also partnered with the state in muting the emerging resistance that was demanding justice for Najeeb.
This ignorance was mirrored in the way ABVP members were treated and protected by the government in power. ABVP, long involved in hooliganism and vandalism on campus, was directly involved in the assault on Najeeb. Yet those responsible were never subjected to real scrutiny. The action taken was evidently tokenistic in nature — merely to change hostels. Such superficial actions clearly state how the state and JNU administration worked to protect the ABVP, the student wing of the RSS, even in the background of grave criminal allegations. Similar shielding of ABVP goons by the administration can be clearly seen in the 5th January, 2020 attacks and more recently, in the violence perpetrated during the 2024 and 2025 JNUSU elections.
It’s been eight years since Najeeb went missing, and the state has failed to ensure a transparent investigation. More disappointing, however, is that the AISA-led JNUSU, expected to lead the student movement and stand with them, failed to create any pressure to hold the administration accountable. Mohit Pandey – then JNUSU president – forced Najeeb to sign an apology letter that deemed Najeeb responsible for the confrontation with ABVP and held him to be the aggressor. When the spontaneous “Where is Najeeb ?” movement erupted on campus demanding swift investigation in the case, JNUSU, instead of intensifying the movement, tried its best to dilute and de-radicalise it.
Today, the resistance has been reduced to a symbolic act of a few candles lit on October 15 each year. Najeeb’s disappearance is a clear indication of shrinking democratic spaces in our university in particular and in the country in general. So it’s extremely important the progressive student community should come together against this latest attempt by the fascists to push Najeeb’s case into oblivion. As the fascist state and its puppet police and CBI have completely lost the credibility of fair inquiry into Najeeb’s case, we demand a special investigation team (SIT) be constituted for judicial inquiry into the case. The SIT must include retired high court /supreme court judges, journalists and civil rights – democratic rights activists with progressive credentials.
This sly attempt by the CBI to permanently close the case will not stop the students from asking “Where is Najeeb ?”
