Jadavpur University Graffiti Whitewashed for Second Time, Students Question Midnight Police, KMC Entry

Wall graffiti across Jadavpur University was allegedly whitewashed for a second time late Tuesday night, triggering a backlash from students. A team of Kolkata Police personnel, reportedly in plain clothes, along with people claiming to be from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), allegedly entered the campus after midnight and removed the writings, students said, questioning the presence of police on campus at such an hour, as well as the repeated removal of political graffiti, arguing that it raises concerns over their “freedom of expression”.

According to Revolutionary Students’ Front (RSF) Jadavpur unit secretary Indranuj Ray, several police vans and people wearing Kolkata Police identity cards entered the campus through Gate No. 4 between 12.30am and 12.40am on September 2. He said those accompanying them identified themselves as KMC personnel and claimed they had come to whitewash the university’s wall writings.

He questioned the legality of the police entering the university campus without prior authorisation, particularly after midnight. “This is blatantly illegal and dystopian. According to the rules, if the police is required to enter the campus even in daytime, they have to get prior authorisation from VC or Registrar, leave alone after midnight. They neither have prior permission, nor they've informed any,” he alleged in a post on Facebook.  Ray also questioned the need for KMC workers and police to carry out the wall-cleaning operation in the middle of the night. “Which government work of whitewashing walls of university from KMC and Kolkata Police exactly needs to be done like miscreants and goons in the darkness of the night?” he added.

Students staying in hostels were reportedly alerted about the developments but were initially unable to leave the premises. By the time they were able to come out, several wall writings had already been covered with white paint. “The authorities could not be contacted yesterday, so, who gave the officials the permission to enter? A official from the registrar’s office told us that the authorities never gave any such permission,” Indranuj said. 

Among the writings white washed was a Karl Marx quote that had been freshly painted on Monday, after university authorities had earlier removed several graffiti and artworks following criticism from West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.

“It is good that the KMC whitewashed the walls. We already knew that KMC personnel would come and welcomed the move. Members of the NSF were even sitting together and making bets about what time they would arrive and what the reaction would be. Jadavpur University is not outside Kolkata, Bengal or India. If something wrong is happening, the KMC has full jurisdiction to enter the campus and whitewash the walls, because it is public property and not someone’s private property where they can write whatever they want. We spoke to the Vice-Chancellor, who said there is a norm preventing police from entering the university campus, but that is not a law. The police can enter the campus whenever there is a law-and-order situation,” said Somsurya Banerjee, founder of the right-leaning Nationalist Student’s Front.

Repeated attempts were made by News The Truth to contact Jadavpur University Registrar Selim Box Mondal for a comment on this issue, but he did not respond.

The latest incident comes amid an ongoing dispute over political graffiti on the Jadavpur University campus.

On Sunday, university authorities had whitewashed several slogans and artworks following Adhikari’s criticism of writings he described as “anti-national”. Students repainted parts of the walls within a day, including the Marx quote: “When our time comes, we will not hesitate to use revolutionary force.” The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) subsequently organised another wall-writing programme, adding fresh slogans across parts of the campus.

Vice-Chancellor Chiranjib Bhattacharya on Tuesday appealed to students and other groups to protect the university’s cleanliness, appearance and dignity. While saying he did not support indiscriminate wall writing, Bhattacharya also stressed the importance of freedom of expression and suggested that designated spaces be provided for students to express their views. He did not, however, announce that the existing writings would be removed again. Hours later, the walls were allegedly whitewashed once more.