Days after walls on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus were defaced with anti-Brahmin slogans, the university has asked all its centres to install CCTV cameras and instructed students and staff members to remain vigilant to prevent such incidents in future.
According to a PTI report, the walls of the building in the School of International Studies-II were spray-painted with slogans asking members of Brahmin and Baniya communities to leave the campus and the country.
The slogans on the walls read “Brahmins leave the campus”, “There will be blood”, “Brahmin Bharat chhodo” and “Brahmo-Baniyas (sic), we are coming for you! We will avenge”.
This incident took place last week, on Thursday, December 1. Scroll reported that some of the slogans on the doors of the rooms assigned to faculty members asked them to go back to “shakha”, a reference to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
While the ABVP, (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad) –affiliated to the RSS – held Leftist student groups responsible for the incident, the JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) hinted that “right-wing forces” were to blame.
“Such statements are clearly meant to disturb the normalcy of the campus by vitiating the campus environment. This is not the first time that such vandalism has occurred within the university. Several instances have happened during previous years,” the JNUSU said in a statement.
The JNUSU also alleged that right-wing forces have “tried historically to caricature claims to social justice in such a deplorable manner”.
JNU vice-chancellor, Santishree D. Pandit, had on Friday, December 2, called an emergency meeting on this matter.
She had instructed the dean of the School of International Studies and the grievances committee to inquire into the incident and submit a report at the earliest. Teacher and student bodies have also urged the JNU administration to conduct a free and fair inquiry to ensure peace on the campus.
The university also issued a six-point advisory, including that all schools and centres will have only a single entry and exit point. The university also asked the authorities to ensure adequate lighting in corridors.
Related:
How the RSS’, Golwalkar, HMS’ Savarkar glorified caste: Devanur Mahadevan
ABVP goons allegedly attack protesting students: Delhi University (DU)