Students union stages protests outside annual JNU meeting

The JNU Students Union (JNUSU), with its Monday demonstration outside the University Court Meeting on the campus, continued locking horns with the administration for not taking action against those students who assaulted Najeeb Ahmed, the student now missing.

"We want to know which 'holy day' you are waiting for, in order to take action against those goons who are roaming in the campus freely, staying in the same hostel where they unleashed attack on Najeeb," a statement issued by the JNUSU said.

"How long will you continue dancing to the tune of RSS-BJP-ABVP? How long JNU will remain unsecure to Najeeb, the eye-witnesses and the students who came here for their academics?" it asked.

It has been 51 days since Ahmed, a post-graduate student of Jawaharlal Nehru University, has been missing. He disappeared the day after he was beaten up by a group of students, associated with Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP.

An inquiry committee formed by the university found at least three students guilty of assaulting Ahmed on the night of October 14, and served them a 'show-cause' notice.

The JNUSU has been demanding a firmer, conclusive action against those students, since the inquiry committee report was made public on November 7.

The union accused the administration of indulging in partisanship by protecting the ABVP students and simultaneously trying to defang the students union, composed of office-bearers belonging to Left parties.

"You continue to threaten JNUSU members for protesting, for seeking justice for Najeeb. You shamelessly even started curtailing our basic democratic right to protest, debate, dissent and even pasting posters... but no action against goons of ABVP," the statement read.

The University Court Meeting is an annual meet held at the university to discuss annual reports, accounts, finances, and decisions taken by its Executive Council. The meeting was chaired by the Chancellor of the University and attended by the Vice Chancellor, faculty members, and a number of Parliament members, nominated exclusively for this purpose.

--IANS

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