JNU is doing its best to locate a Muslim student missing for five days, the institution’s vice-chancellor said on Thursday, appealing to students to call off an ongoing protest that has confined officials , allegedly without food or water, on the campus.
Speaking to reporters, V-C M Jagadesh Kumar alleged that many of his colleagues had fallen ill because of a student-enforced blockade of the administrative building that is in its 16th hour. “Students have become relentless and adamant and think that we are not doing our best,” he was quoted as saying by ANI.
The protests were triggered by the disappearance of biotechnology student Najeeb Ahmed on Saturday, allegedly after being thrashed by members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad.
Since then, tensions have mounted on campus with the Left-controlled students union saying the university has been lax in trying to find Ahmed and book ABVP members. Others say Ahmed slapped a student.
Sources said the officials will come out of the building at 2.30pm for an academic council meeting and may take a call on calling police inside campus as a “last resort” to lift the blockade.
