Speaking at a public meeting organised by the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) at the Constitution Club on Wednesday, Fatima Nafees, the mother of missing JNU student Najeeb Ahmed, delivered an emotional and defiant address.
“As long as I am alive, I will keep speaking out about what happened to my son. I don’t want there to be another Najeeb. With the support of students, we will not forget my son or let anyone forget,” she said.
She recalled the solidarity of student movements: “Student power has always stood with me. JNU has stood by me from the beginning and continues to do so. My children in Jamia who supported me. Many have been put behind bars. We will continue to fight for them as well. Till the time I have strength, I will continue to fight for my Najeeb. But I have not been keeping well. Even if I am bedridden, you, my children, my soldiers, must carry this fight forward. This era is not meant for us; it is meant to erase us. But I believe our justice will win, our truth will win, and we will succeed. I will challenge the closure report in the High Court and continue to fight this fight.”
Speaking to Maktoob after the event, she said, “This fight will continue. This is a long protest. I will go to the High Court. I still have hope.”
Eight years, no answers
More than eight years after Najeeb Ahmed’s disappearance, a Delhi court in June accepted the closure report filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The petition challenging this report was filed in 2018 by his mother.
Najeeb, a first-year MSc Biotechnology student, went missing from outside his JNU hostel in October 2016 after being attacked by members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He was 27 at the time.
His case was investigated by multiple agencies—Delhi Police, Special Investigation Team, Crime Branch, and eventually the CBI. Yet none of them found any trace of him. His forced disappearance triggered massive protests at JNU, across Delhi, and on university campuses nationwide, with Fatima Nafees at the forefront.
“Where is justice?”
Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Jha described the closure of the case as “a deep failure of the system.”
“The right question is not ‘Where is Najeeb?’ but ‘Where is justice?’ Many of you are searching for your classmate. Fatima ji is searching for her son. But this country is searching for its soul. The Home Minister’s duty is to keep citizens safe, but his presence tells people they are unwanted—that they should leave this country,” Jha said.
He declared that today’s India is not the country of Gandhi and Nehru but one where innocent people rot in jail. “Today, your very name can guarantee your arrest. And if we raise this in Parliament, we are told to go to Pakistan. But small powers have changed nations before. In our country too, those who think they can crush dissent will be proven wrong. Maybe roads will lead to Parliament, and maybe then we will get Najeeb back too,” he said.
Teachers and activists speak out
JNU Teachers’ Association (JNUTA) president Surajit Mazumdar said the unresolved case represented not just one student’s fate but the safety of all students. “After all these years, the police still don’t know what happened. JNUTA stands firmly with Najeeb’s family,” he said.
Mazumdar criticised the JNU administration for its indifference to Fatima. “Their attitude towards the incident was deeply flawed. To this day, the administration has not even offered a heartfelt apology to Fatima ji. Courts may call it closure, but the JNU community will not.”
CPI(M)’s Rajya Sabha MP Sivadasan echoed this sentiment: “The question ‘Where is Najeeb?’ is a question of ‘Where is justice?’ Najeeb is not just a name; Najeeb is a fighting force for justice. This struggle will continue inside and outside Parliament.”
Civil rights activist Nadeem Khan drew parallels with disappearances in Palestine and Syria. “In conflict zones, people have been missing for decades and then found. We believe Najeeb will return. But the judiciary has made a mockery of this case—from sending in a dog squad months later to ignoring glaring lapses. We will continue this fight on the streets and in the courts,” he said.
Students’ resistance continues
JNUSU president Nitish Kumar accused the CBI and Delhi Police of failing justice. “In nine years, they could not deliver answers. The closure of the case is an attempt to bury justice, but our movement will continue until accountability is ensured,” he said.
“Najeeb and I came to the University in the same year, 2016. What followed was the attack he faced in his hostel by the ABVP goons and his enforced disappearance. In the last 9 years, we have witnessed how the system and the state have failed a mother, Najeeb’s family, and clearly ’justice’,” former JNUSU president and SFI Delhi Secretary Aishe Ghosh tells Maktoob.
Ghosh, who was at Constitution Club, went on to say: “Contrary to this, the CBI and Delhi Police have tried all ways to close down the case, while the JNU Administration has remained unbothered. It’s an unfortunate reality that the system has turned Islamophobic. It has turned away from the pleas of Ammi and failed her. This Press Conference and Public Meeting was a reminder that we haven’t stopped our fight for justice… however long it might take.”
Former JNUSU president N Sai Balaji (CPI-ML Liberation) and PV Ahamed Saju (Indian Union Muslim League) also extended solidarity, vowing to stand with Fatima.
“The journey of a mother searching for her son continues. Even if the CBI investigation has ended, she will go on waiting and fighting for him,” Saju, who is also the National President of Muslim Students Federation (MSF), said.
“Najeeb’s case is not just about someone going missing. It is an enforced disappearance. ‘Where is Najeeb’ is not merely a slogan, it is a movement for justice. And it won’t fade away. The fight continues,” Lubaib Basheer, National General Secretary of the Fraternity Movement, told Maktoob.
“Najeeb’s disappearance is not an isolated incident; it reflects the grim reality of how dissenting voices, especially from marginalized backgrounds, are met with violence, abandonment, and the denial of justice. We are here to extend our solidarity to Fatima Nafees, who has spearheaded this justice movement,” Thashreef KP, National Secretary of Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO), tells Maktoob.
Concluding the programme, JNUSU general secretary Munteha Fatima said: “The courage shown by Fatima Ammi must become our collective strength. This struggle is not just for Najeeb but for all minority and Muslim students who face discrimination in universities and beyond.”
 at the Constitution Club on Wednesday, Fatima Nafees, the mother of missing JNU student Najeeb Ahmed, delivered an emotional and defiant address.){kind=link}