‘Anarchist Forces’ Want to Keep JNU on Boil: Research Scholar on Recent Anti-Brahmin Slogans

A huge row erupted in India last week after several walls at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus in Delhi were defaced with anti-Brahmin and anti-Baniya slogans.

According to media reports, citing students at JNU, walls at the School of International Studies – II building were defaced with slogans calling for violence against Brahmins and Baniyas.

Namely, the slogans read “Brahmins Leave The Campus,” “There Will Be Blood,” “Brahmin Bharat Chhodo” ("Brahmins Quit India"), and “Brahmino-Baniyas, we are coming for you! We will avenge.”

Apart from this, the walls of the chambers of some Brahmin professors were also defaced, as it was written “Go back to Shakha.” Shakhas are the smallest unit of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at the grassroots level, where volunteers pray together and participate in exercises such as self-defense training.

Shortly after the incident came to light, JNU issued a statement saying that the administration condemns these “exclusivist tendencies on campus” and has a zero-tolerance for any kind of violence.

Vishva Hindu Parishad, a top Hindu organization, also condemned the incident, saying that the university had adopted the idea of "nationalism and social harmony," which cannot be undermined by the slogans written by some “coward leftist[s].”

Speaking about why JNU is once again the center of a notorious incident, research scholar at SIS Pavan Chaurasia told Sputnik that “it is not that JNU is the center of such [an] incident, but rather we should [understand] that some anarchist elements of the Leftist mindset[,] which include some anti-Indian forces too[,] have tried to extrapolate the societal cleavages to push their agenda. By defacing the walls on the campus, they have tried to create a division among the people.”

“I believe that these anarchist forces use such tactics from time to time to keep their cadre charged. They also have to inform their funding agencies about the activities they are taking up to spread anarchy,” he said.

“A narrative is being built before [the] elections that there is anarchy in JNU[,] which is completely fake. There is nothing of such sort in the campus, there is a peaceful environment, everybody is busy with their work. But [there are] certain rotten institutions which want to keep the university on a boil and that is why they are using such cheap means to gain popularity,” Chaurasia said.

Asked about why there have been several incidents which have left a bad spot on JNU and whether it is becoming a center for infamous incidents, the research scholar said it would be wrong to say this.

“I believe that it is one of the institutions where [the] brightest of the brains of the country come to study and do research. These brains are like [a] double-edged sword[,] which can be constructive as well as destructive. Therefore, some of them subscribe to the idea that there should be anarchy. As far as it is concerned why such incidents happen in JNU, I would say that people with [a] Leftist mindset have dominated in the university[,] they [have] promoted such things,” he added.

He said these things have been going on at the university for quite some time, but now they have started being noticed by people outside the university because of the increasing penetration of social media.

Chaurasia dismissed the fact that such incidents are related to the caste system. He reiterated that the anarchist forces have just tried to use a societal divide like religion to push their agenda.

After the incident was reported last week, there has not been any violence, as the university administration has told students as well as the professors to remain vigilant.