NEW DELHI: Ahead of the Ram Mandir inauguration in January 2024, Jawaharlal Nehru University language department walls were found defaced with slogans calling for restoration of Babri masjid on Thursday.
According to several students, the walls were without blemish till Wednesday evening, the graffiti most probably painted late Wednesday night. Photos of the graffiti were shared by several users on social media. In a post, the national coconvener of ABVP, Prerna Bhardwaj said,
“This is the wall of JNU’s School of Language! Slogans written in red colour... Ram Mandir is going to stay.” Another ABVP activist, Satyam Vats, posted, “This brings shame to JNU... it (graffiti) is written by anti-nationals in JNU.” According to sources, there are no CCTV cameras inside the language department and it will be difficult to identify the violators.
The chief proctor had recently announced a discipline manual which called for fines of Rs 10,000 for those found guilty of sloganeering on walls. This was not the first time JNU walls have witnessed such sloganeering. Several times, the university’s walls have become a medium for political propaganda.
A couple of months ago, several walls of the JNU campus were found defaced with slogans on the Kashmir issue. In the first week of December, walls of the second and third floors of School of Language and doors of several faculty members were found painted with slogans.
Discipline manual
The proctor had recently released a discipline manual that imposed fines of Rs 10,000 for those guilty of defacing walls.