Protesting students gheraoed the administrative building in Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi and for over 15 hours on Wednesday night. The situation worsened as students did not let the vice chancellor and other office staff go out from their offices and continued the agitation throughout the night.
The agitation was called to demand “swift action” into the missing of a second year MSc Biotechnology student, Najeeb Ahmed. It is the sixth day since he went missing after an altercation with some ABVP students outside his Mahi Mandvi hostel on October 14 during a mess election campaign. From the next day, he was not found. According to students, he left the hostel without his wallet, mobile and even his footwear.
Vice Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar met the agitating students at around 12.15am at the gate of his office. “Just spoke to the students, explained to them the efforts made by JNU to locate the missing student. We appealed to JNU students to stop this physical confinement of university officials, but with no result,” he said.
At around 1.30 am, the VC tweeted, “Since the students did not let us go home inspite our appeal, we have no other option but be confined to the administration building.” (sic). Agitating JNU students should realize it is wrong to physically confine their own teachers like this. This will only affect our JNU.”
At 5.20 am, the VC said in an SMS reply, “Staying within admin building. Cannot go out.”
“There are two more demands which they agreed downstairs but refuse to give in writing. One, the VC should file a fresh complaint with the Delhi police and second, all the people involved in the episode of violence should be out of bound from the hostel, for a free and fair enquiry, till the enquiry is pending,” said a former JNUSU president adding, “Also, the appeal they gave remained unsigned.”
