JNU urges all centres to install CCTVs amid campus defacement row

A day after some walls on the JNU campus were defaced with anti-Brahmin slogans, the university asked all its centres to install CCTV cameras and instructed students

A day after some walls on the JNU campus were defaced with anti-Brahmin slogans, the university on Friday asked all its centres to install CCTV cameras and instructed students and staff members to remain vigilant to prevent such incidents in future.

Jawaharlal Nehru University Vice-Chancellor Santishree D. Pandit visited the building in the School of International Studies (SIS)- II, whose walls were spray-painted with slogans asking members of Brahmin and Baniya communities to leave the campus and the country, and took stock of the situation.

She called an emergency meeting during which several measures were discussed to improve security on the campus, sources told PTI.

It was decided to shift the reading rooms situated in the SIS-I building and on the second floor of the SIS-II building to the latter's ground floor from Monday to ensure better security on the campus, they said.

V-C Pandit also interacted with the students, staff and faculty members and asked them to be vigilant so that such incidents can be prevented in future, JNU Registrar Ravikesh said in a statement.

"The vice-chancellor has appealed to the JNU community to maintain the JNU ethos of inclusion, equality and harmony on the campus," the statement said.

Some of the slogans on the walls read "Brahmins leave the campus", "There will be blood", "Brahmin Bharat chhodo" and "Brahmino-Baniyas, we are coming for you! We will avenge".

On Thursday, Pandit 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.

The university also issued a six-point advisory on Friday in view of the prevailing security issues on the campus, according to the administration.

"All schools/centres should have single entry/exit point. Maintaining entry/exit register at the entry point of the schools/centres. Installation of CCTV cameras at each floor of the schools/centres building," the advisory said.

It also asked authorities to ensure adequate lighting in corridors.

It said an orientation programme should be conducted to sensitise the JNU community from time to time.

Teacher and student bodies also urged the JNU administration to conduct a free and fair inquiry to ensure peace on the campus.

The JNU Teachers' Association (JNUTA) condemned the incident and said it violates the spirit of diversity and tolerance of all views, which is the core ethos of JNU.

The teachers' body asked the university administration to immediately launch a probe into the incident, identify the culprits and proceed against them according to university rules.

Denouncing the vandalisation, the JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) claimed this is not the first time that such a thing has happened in the university.

"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," it said in a statement.

The JNUSU alleged that right-wing forces have "tried historically to caricature claims to social justice in such a deplorable manner".

RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad held the Left responsible for the incident.