Babri Masjid slogan scribbled on JNU campus walls

NEW DELHI: A day after a slogan demanding Babri Masjid reconstruction surfaced on a wall of Jawaharlal Nehru University's School of Languages, the university on Friday ordered the repainting of all walls on the campus to remove any slogan or graffiti. In a meeting with a committee tasked with probing repeated incidents of controversial sloganeering and defacement of walls, the administration asked officials to ramp up security arrangements in all schools of the university.

"We have asked the committee members to visit all schools and submit a report in the next one week on requirements for CCTV cameras in each school after discussions with the respective deans," a senior official told PTI.

The JNU administration has ordered to repaint all walls on the campus to remove any kind of slogan or graffiti, the official said, adding CCTV cameras will be installed in identified areas. According to university students, the administration on Thursday evening white washed the walls on which the slogan was scribbled. They, however, claimed that in the process sketches of freedom fighters and that of two prime ministers were also wiped off.

The slogan demanding that Babri Masjid be rebuilt appeared on a wall on the first floor of the School of Language building with the "NSUI" written below. Photos of the graffiti soon surfaced on social media, sparking a controversy. The student outfit distanced themselves from the slogan and demanded an investigation by the administration.

"NSUI-JNU firmly condemns this malicious, disruptive act of defacement and maligning our organisation's name. We are absolutely clear that defacing an organization's wall sketches is not a way to give any socio-political message. We also demand the university administration conduct an impartial investigation into the matter," the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) said in a statement. The university administration initially denied photos of the graffiti circulating on social media were from the university, but later said it was not aware if it was painted on the campus.