New Delhi, Oct. 20: The JNU student union's gherao of vice-chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar and other senior officials inside the administrative block fizzled out today, leaving the students bitterly divided.
The gheraohad begun yesterday afternoon to demand the suspension of those accused of assaulting fellow student Najeeb Ahmed, missing since the incident on Saturday, and for the university to lodge a police complaint.
"Demands from small radical student groups had forced us to do a gheraothat wasn't feasible because it is exam time and support is low," a student leader said. "It's not yielding anything and the teachers too have withdrawn support."
The gheraohad initially been called off last evening after a request from the teachers' association but resumed after a passionate speech by Ahmed's sister Sadaf Musharraf.
Last night, chief proctor A.P. Dimri, who had earlier been let through the gherao, went back in to facilitate negotiations with Kumar. But the post-midnight talks failed after Kumar maintained the varsity would speed up the probe but refused to set a deadline or lodge a police complaint.
The police had registered an FIR of abduction on Sunday after a complaint from Ahmed's mother, Fatima Nafees.
By 10.30am today, however, the students guarding three of the six exits had left their posts. A little after 2pm, student union president Mohit Pandey and other leaders told reporters they were lifting the gherao. "We'll continue to pressure the administration to act against those guilty of mob violence within two days," he said.
Some students who wanted the gherao to continue heckled the union leaders. The dissident students were to hold a march through the campus tonight.
The student union has called for a protest at the home ministry tomorrow. Following an order from home minister Rajnath Singh, the police have formed a special investigation team to handle the case.
An ABVP member, Saurabh Sharma, said he had received a threat letter saying he would be "cut into pieces" over the disappearance, adds PTI.
