National
`Missing' Jordanian student may have helped Geelani
By Our Staff Reporter
NEW DELHI, DEC. 17. A ``troublesome'' resident is how the Jubilee Hall of Delhi University remembers the expelled Jordanian student, Al Kareem, the ``missing'' research scholar that the Delhi police believe has strong links with the Arabic lecturer, Syed Abdul Rehman Geelani.
Last seen a month ago with his brother by some students, Kareem was expelled from Jubilee Hall Hostel in August for his ``communal'' activities. Remembered here for his strong religious beliefs and a series of nasty incidents that eventually led to his expulsion, Kareem's possible involvement in the December 13 incident has left students here in a daze.
Completing his Ph.D in Astro Physics, Kareem had moved into the hostel two years ago and stayed in Room No. 164. ``He had moved in around Holi and a couple of students had gone to put the customary tilak on him. Although he was absolutely new, he picked a fight with the students, abused them and pushed them out of his room,'' remembers one of the residents.
But as the students soon realised, this was only the beginning. Trouble began to brew when Kareem spat at a Tulsi plant kept inside the hostel and used for worshiping by many students.
On being stopped by the residents, Kareem abused them and a couple of days later pasted a picture of the Tulsi with a garland of shoes around it on his room door. ``We were all shocked. We had told him that Tulsi was considered holy and that he should show respect. When he pasted the poster on his door and that too with a rather derogatory message, we decided to report to the provost,'' said another student.
According to the hostel provost, Prof. G. Misra, this was not the first time that a complaint was being lodged against Kareem. ``That he was not very social with other students was clear to us. First it was him complaining about everything from the food to other facilities at the hostel. Then the complaints against him started coming in. The Tulsi controversy led to a lot of tension with the matter ending up in a fight between him and the students,'' said Prof. Misra.
When the fight went out of hand, the police was called, an FIR lodged at the Maurice Nagar police station and Kareem detained for the night. Incidentally, Kareem called his brother for help on knowing that a complaint had been lodged against him. The Embassy of Jordan was then roped in to intervene, which in turn convinced the hostel authorities that a private accommodation would be arranged for Kareem by them. Since Kareem's stay faced stiff opposition from both students and hostel authorities, he was finally expelled in September this year. Kareem moved into the Transit hostel in Mukherjee Nagar later.
The only two persons that Kareem was seen with regularly were Geelani and another student whom the Jordanian introduced as his brother to others. An introvert and extremely conservative person, students say he had to change his Ph.D guide nearly three times due to his frequent fights.
``He and Geelani would spend nights in the ISD booth calling up people. Their bills often ran up to Rs. 15,000. We all assumed that he must be calling his girlfriend. The two would, in fact, even doze off in the booth,'' remembered another student.
One of the hostel residents says he had seen Geelani a month ago on the North Campus with his brother, who is pursuing his Ph.D in Mathematics from Delhi University. Geelani, students say, came across as a nice man. A known face here, the Arabic lecturer was seen a lot with Kareem. Students here believe that Kareem was probably used for help in getting foreign transactions done.
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
National
|
