‘I do not want there to be another Najeeb‘, were the words of Fatima Nafees, mother of an MSc Biotechnology student in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Najeeb Ahmed who was found nowhere on the varsity campus after being physically assaulted by the right-wing student group Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on October 15, 2016. The missing case of the disappearance of the young student has now surpassed eight years. It was Fatima Nafees, the courageous woman in her mid-fifties – who addressed a protest march – on Ammi’s Call – last week in the national capital, Delhi, from Ganga to Sabarmati Hostel in the JNU campus to once again light the candle of hope to seek justice for his disappeared son.
Several student organisations – Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) and Students Federation of India (SFI) offered solidarity to Fatima last Tuesday,
Several student organisations – Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) and Students Federation of India (SFI) offered solidarity to Fatima last Tuesday, October 15 and chanted slogans saying, ‘Bring back Najeeb (Najeeb ko dhundke lao), Najeeb has been missing since eight years, who is responsible? (Aat saal se Najeeb hai ghayab, kon hai iska zimmedar?)‘. The protest march in the capital was highlighted on social media, however, very few media houses reported the event. It was the SFI unit of the JNU campus that posted on X, ‘We will not stop asking this regime- WHERE IS NAJEEB?‘
A suspicious case of disappearance and systematic failure of the Indian administration
Najeeb, a young student from Badaun city of Uttar Pradesh studying and residing at India’s most prestigious university, JNU, was attacked by nine members of ABVP right before his disappearance. The incident happened when the accused group reportedly knocked on Najeeb’s Mahi-Mandavi hostel room for forthcoming hostel elections. Subsequently, the family of the disappeared demanded a stringent prob by India’s investigative agencies. On 25 November, Fatima filed a habeas corpus plea in the Delhi High Court, asserting that the city police had been ineffectual, citing failure to trace her son’s whereabouts in the last month or make any progress.
The case was eventually handed over to India’s topmost investigative agencies such as the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Delhi Police and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). However, all of them, including the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police failed the country’s mother to bring any leads about her young son. As per statistics, the Delhi Police spent nearly Rs. 24,55,600 by November 1, 2020, to advertise the missing case of Najeeb. As a response to the failed system and apathy towards a Muslim mother, Fatima said, ‘These agencies failed my aspirations and the idea of justice.’
The university administration also received criticism for showing laxity in the case. However, a proctorial inquiry report by the administration found an ABVP member, named Vikrant Kumar, guilty of physically assaulting and using derogatory language with Najeeb. AVBP reportedly supported the guilty on the grounds of ‘the administration being biased and taking sides with left-wing students.’
According to a report by The Print, the Delhi Police did call the members of the right-wing student union for interrogation and further questioning, however, it failed to establish their involvement in Najeeb’s disappearance. As days passed by and rage ran over the university, students and teachers, forming serpentine queues, confined the JNU Vice-Chancellor and many other varsity administrators for hours in the administration building.
According to a report by The Hindustan Times, all the Indian investigative agencies shut the disappearance case of Najeeb in 2018 concluding his whereabouts “untraced” after a gazillion series of “failed” search operations.
However, there were no signs of progress in the case. According to a report by The Hindustan Times, all the Indian investigative agencies shut the disappearance case of Najeeb in 2018 concluding his whereabouts “untraced” after a gazillion series of “failed” search operations. However, the young student’s mother did not stop hoping…And why should she?
A courageous mother’s road to activism
‘I wish I had not accepted my son’s decision to study at JNU. Maybe he would have still been with us.‘ These were the words of mother Fatima Nafees who continues to protest from pillar to post to find the whereabouts of his 27-year-old aspirational son who came to the big city called New Delhi to make his educational dreams come true: to study at India’s best university and acquire knowledge and wisdom from India’s finest biotechnology facilitators.
The country has not just failed a young student’s dream, it has also failed the dreams of a mother who regrets her decision to send her child to a university that has produced an ample number of scientists, philosophers, writers, journalists, professors and academic scholars.
In the last eight years, the courageous mother has participated in innumerable protests demanding justice for his son. In 2016, the first year of Najeeb’s disappearance, Fatima participated in a protest named Light a Ray of Hope organised by the JNUSU. The following year in March, she addressed a huge campaign led by the Jamaat-e-Islami’s student organisation. In 2019, which marked the third anniversary of her son’s disappearance, Fatima joined Delhi University professor Apoorvanand Jha and Kavitha Lankesh, sister of the assassinated Bengaluru journalist Gauri Lankesh, at a public meeting in the national capital’s Jantar Mantar to ask the country where is her son.
Various academic scholars, professors activists and lawyers including Arundhati Roy, Nandita Narain Prashant Bhushan and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Danish Ali offered solidarity to the mother in 2019. In the same year, the mother addressed the media at a protest United Against Hate, supported by human rights activist Nadeem Khan. An important placard was held by many protesters here that read, ‘Where is Najeeb? Najeeb did not disappear. He was made to disappear.‘
‘I still believe my son is alive and has been put in some jail,’ these words were once again echoed by strong Fatima who took to the streets of Delhi holding a placard of his disappeared son on 30 August 2021. With this, the year was recognised as the fifth anniversary of Najeeb’s disappearance. The date was chosen keeping in mind the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, observed to raise awareness and remember individuals clandestinely kidnapped resulting in human rights violations.
On the protest site, the mother asserted that her son’s disappearance and the Indian administration’s failed attempts to find him were part of the central government’s conspiracy.
On the protest site, the mother asserted that her son’s disappearance and the Indian administration’s failed attempts to find him were part of the central government’s conspiracy. According to Fatima, the case was weakened by the state police and probe agencies since the beginning as they tried their level best to protect the suspects. She further said that her young son was used as a pawn by others, however, she did not name “others”. In her words, ‘But no one should be afraid. Everyone has the right to study at JNU and these persons – addressing those in power – are afraid of us. They do not want us to study at JNU, and that is why they do such things.’
Fatima’s perseverance and belief in hope was shared in 2023 in Maktoob Media. While talking to the media organisation, Fatima, said she has stopped going to protests on the university campuses as her health does not allow it, however, she continues to seek justice for his son from Indian courts. She added there are some helpful people but they usually came to protests for their own benefit – to take photographs, mainly student leaders and politicians. The mother, lastly, said, ‘This is my struggle and I will fight it on my own. My faith keeps me going.’
Eight years and counting but Najeeb’s Ammi stands strong!
October 15, 2024, was observed as the eighth anniversary of Najeeb’s disappearance. While the top-notch Indian investigative agencies closed the case long back ago, the 54-year-old determined and courageous mother is still asking the nation, that failed her and her son’s educational aspirations to study at the best university, where is her son? And that is why she once again stood firm at the Ammi’s Call protest with a wailing yet fearless heart to remember her son and to make sure ‘there is not another Najeeb‘ again. Ever again in this country. Fatima is an example to all mothers for her undying spirit, hope and affirmation. However, no mother should witness this loss.
