The vice-chancellor of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit on Monday said that “outsiders” were possibly involved in defacing walls inside the campus with anti-Brahmin slogans. She said nobody can use JNU to spread hatred against any group.
“It has come to our knowledge that outsiders might have come and done this. We are thinking of how we can take precautionary measures so that such incidents do not take place in future,” she was quoted saying by news agency.
Several walls of the JNU’s School of International Studies (SIS)-II were defaced with graffiti scribblings of discriminatory slogans against members of Brahmin and Baniya communities.
The slogans were found on the walls of the School of International Studies-II building. ‘Go back to Shakha’ was written on the wall of the chambers of several Brahmin professors including Nalin Kumar Mohapatra, Raj Yadav, Pravesh Kumar and Vandana Mishra.
The incident sparked controversy as photos of slogans went viral on social media platforms. Writer and lyricist Manoj Muntashir said in a self-made video that Brahmins are facing stereotypes of being ‘greedy and wicked’.
Union minister Giriraj Singh also commented on the incident earlier and alleged that the so-called “tukde tukde gang” was doing their utmost to divide the country.
‘Tukde-Tukde’ is a term often used by right-wing parties to attack the opposition, particularly Left and Left-backed outfits as well as those who support them.
The vice-chancellor termed the incident unfortunate and said further inquiry is underway. The university authorities also issued a statement condemning the incident and blaming ‘unknown elements’ behind the defacement of the campus. The walls were white-washed within 24 hours.
“The incident that took place of the defacement of our walls in the School of International Studies was very unfortunate and an enquiry is underway. Immediately the walls were whitewashed and cleaned within 24 hours,” Pandit said.
She further said that JNU cannot be used as a place to spread discrimination and hatred against any group.
The university asked all its centres to install CCTV cameras and notified that there will be only a single entry and exit points.