Several walls of a building at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) were defaced with anti-Brahmin slogans on Thursday, 1 December, stirring a controversy.
The Dean of the School of International Studies and Grievances Committee has been asked to probe the incident and submit a report to the Vice-Chancellor (VC) at the earliest.
What does the graffiti state? The graffiti, the photos of which were widely shared on social media, ask the members of the Brahmin and the Baniya communities to leave the JNU campus and the country. The slogans say “we are coming for you” and “we will avenge you”.
Slogans on doors of rooms assigned to faculty members of the unviersity ask them to go back to “shakha”, a reference to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
What has the university said? Santishree D. Pandit, Vice Chancellor (VC) of JNU, has taken a serious note of the incident.
“The administration condemns these exclusivist tendencies on campus. Such incidents will not be tolerated as JNU belongs to all,” news agency ANI reported quoting a notice from the Registrar of JNU.
The Dean of the School of International Studies and Grievances Committee has been asked to inquire and submit a report to the Vice-Chancellor (VC) at the earliest.
“JNU stands for inclusion and equality. The VC reiterates zero tolerance for any violence on campus,” the notice said.
What about the student's union? The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union on Friday condemned the incident and urged the administration to take strict action against the miscreants.
In a statement, it said that it condemns any such acts that purposefully attack any community to encourage any form of disharmony or disturbance of the peaceful environment of the campus.
However, it added that political art and wall postering are an “integral part of the political culture” of the university.
“We have never witnessed the same to have been employed for hateful purposes under the garb of anonymity. The JNU Administration must take cognisance of such slogans and take the requisite strict action according to the statutes of the university,” it said.
Has any action been taken yet? In an advisory to each school and centre on the campus, the university has suggested that
All schools/centres should have a single exit/entry point
Each buliding should maintain an entry/exit register
A notice board regarding prevention of defacement of public property should be fixed at appropriate place in every school/centre building
Corrdiors of all schools/centres should be adequately lit
(With inputs from ANI)
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