JNU to have sombre Diwali with prayers for Najeeb

Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) on Sunday called for a sit-in at the varsity's Administration Block to pray for the safe return of missing student Najeeb Ahmed, who is missing now for the last 16 days.

A symbolic protest — Light a Ray of Hope for Najeeb — will be organised for the safe return of Ahmed, who was brutally assaulted by an at least 20-strong mob of students on the intervening night of October 14-15 at the Mahi-Mandvi hostel.

"Najeeb's mother and his sister will also come at the protest. We will light candles and a torch to remind people of an innocent student who was brutally beaten and then made to disappear," Rama Naga, Ex-General Secretary of JNUSU told IANS.

The sit-in will commence at 9 p.m.

"Every year JNU students celebrate Diwali with a fervour equivalent to the rest of the nation but this year, the festival will be low-key because of this sad incident," Naga added.

The hostel committees at various hostels of JNU prepare for the celebrations for Diwali and JNUSU hasn't asked the students to refrain from not celebrating it this year.

"JNU students will be celebrating Diwali, but this time there's a sadness prevalent in all of us. We all keep thinking about Najeeb and the kind of state he would be in," Rahul Sonpimple, a member of the Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students Association (BAPSA), told IANS.

"At the sit-in we will discuss the methods which we could adopt to put pressure on police and the university administration in finding Najeeb," he added.