JNU students end blockade, resolve to protest peacefully

NEW DELHI: After keeping JNU Vice Chancellor and other officials under siege for over 20 hours, JNU students resolved to change their "method" of protest and resort to peaceful agitation till missing student Najeeb Ahmed is traced.

The students who had during the day "let out" the VC and officials only to attend the Academic Council meeting, later decided to end the blockade and not use confinement as a method.

"We had an all party meeting and we decided that we will not resort to confinement now even as we will continue with our agitation till Ahmed is found and a proper enquiry is conducted into the entire issue," a member of JNUSU said.

The student groups, however, were divided over changing the strategy of the protest. While BASO and BAPSA, two groups active on campus, were of the opinion of continuing the confinement after the AC meeting, All India Students Association (AISA) opined otherwise.

The confinement of the officials by students attracted criticism from various quarters including JNU Teachers Association, which has been supportive of the students union over past issues raised by them.

"Howsoever peaceful the confinement is, it is wrong," JNUTA President Ajay Patnaik said.

A student of School of Biotechnology, Najeeb Ahmed, allegedly went missing on Saturday following a brawl on the campus the night before. An FIR for kidnapping and wrongfully confining a person was lodged at Vasant Kunj North police station yesterday after the police received a complaint from the student's guardians.