The writing is on the wall: graffiti is art of expression but can also be vandalism

Earlier this month, 20-year-old Abhimanyu, a BSc student and SFI leader from Kochi's Maharaja's College, was stabbed to death allegedly because of graffiti by members of the Campus Front - the students wing of the Islamic Popular Front of India.

According to the police, the victim was one of the students who wrote "communalism" over a graffiti made by Campus Front members.

Disputes over graffiti are a familiar form of political expression in colleges, especially in those with a strong political history like Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jadavpur University and, in this case, Maharaja's College.

In May 2017, secretary of the Delhi University Students' Union filed a complaint upon finding pro-ISIS slogans on the walls of the Delhi School of Economics.

In another instance in December 2016, five students of Maharaja's College were arrested over obscene graffiti on college walls hurting religious sentiments.

The question therefore arises -- Is graffiti a form of art and expression or just roadside vandalism?
Shweta Pal, Principal of Janki Devi Memorial College, said, "If the graffiti is artistic and thematic, it can be quite a powerful tool to express an idea or throw light on a particular issue."