A day after a car-bomb explosion killed at least 13 people in the heart of the national capital, anti-Muslim graffiti saying “Muslims and dogs should not enter the premises” and “No dogs and Muslims” was found at the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) campus in Kolkata.
On Tuesday, November 11, boarders woke up and saw the graffiti smeared across both sides of the main entrance door of the main boys’ hostel in the institute’s CV Raman Hall, which houses those pursuing graduation and postgraduation courses at ISI and is situated in Baranagar, about 30 km north of Kolkata. Founded by Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis in Kolkata in 1931, ISI is among the premier higher education centres in the country and has been an ‘Institution of National Importance’ since 1959. It has branches in Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Tezpur.
Note that one side of the hostel entrance door had the words “Dog shouldn’t enter the premises” in black that has been around for a few years. Someone added “Muslims &” on top of this with white chalk, so the inscription now reads “Muslims and dog shouldn’t enter the premises”. Meanwhile, the other side had the words “No Muslim” and “No Muslim allowed”.
The words “the only place for Muslims” were found written on a dustbin kept on the north-east corner of the second floor of the hostel.
That’s not all. The railing of the hostel’s east-wing staircase was defaced with the words, “No Dogs and Muslims”.
On November 10, an explosive-laden private vehicle blew up near the Red Fort in Delhi around 6.50 pm killing at least eight people instantly. According to preliminary investigation, the vehicle was driven by a physician named Umar un-Nabi, from south Kashmir’s Pulwama, who taught at Al-Falah Medical College in Faridabad. Nabi, investigators suspect, was part of a Jaish-e-Muhammed terror module comprising other doctors.
As is often the case with such incidents, various sketchy details about the blast trickled in till late on Monday night, triggering conflicting reports.
According to ISI hostel boarders Alt News spoke to, the graffiti on the main door was likely done between 6:30 and 7:30 am on Tuesday. “Our friends who went out for tea around 6:30 am did not notice the words. Many of us study all night before exams and go out for tea very early. However, those who got out a little late, around 7:30 in the morning, noticed the writings on the door,” they said.
The images were posted on a common WhatsApp group (where students from across disciplines and batches are members) on Tuesday morning. “Whoever did this was requested to own up and apologize. However, no one responded,” a student said.
Institute’s Response
Later in the day, students approached the administration with a verbal complaint. ISI Kolkata director Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay, dean Biswabrata Pradhan and hostel warden Subhamoy Maitra, accompanied by a handful of students from the general affairs committee, inspected the graffiti. The director condemned the act publicly, students told Alt News.
The general affairs or GA committee of a hostel is the closest thing to a students’ body on the campus. There is no practice of student-union elections at ISIs. Members of the GA committee are generally selected from the senior-most batch.
Later, a written complaint was also filed with the institute administration.
“We sought an investigation to find out who was behind the incident. There is a CCTV camera near the hostel gate which might have captured the perpetrator. We wanted to see the footage. This was denied by the administration, though they promised to look into the matter. They also said a sensitization programme could be organized with compulsory attendance for students,” a student told Alt News.
Alt News has also learnt from its sources that the director wanted the objectionable graffiti to be erased after the inspection, to which students objected.
On November 12, a group of 10 students comprising research scholars, and undergraduate and postgraduate students met the dean, Biswabrata Pradhan, and sought an official response on the matter. “He spoke about holding seminars to sensitize students some time in January. And he also stressed that a guard had been placed at the hostel gate. This was all the steps the institute thought of taking in 36 hours following the inicident. When asked about a proper inquiry, he said only the director could take a call on that,” a student who was part of the team told Alt News.
The dean also promised that the institute would issue a statement. However, no such official statement was issued till the late evening of November 12. A section of students told Alt News that this made them apprehensive that the administration may hush the matter.
When contacted by Alt News, Pradhan refused to comment on the matter. “Only the institute head can speak on this,” he said. Calls to director Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay went unanswered.
Alt News also spoke to Muslim students on the campus. All of them said they never experienced any discrimination at ISI owing to their faith. “There might be one or two who would pass an occasional comment, but that’s just a reflection of what is happening all over the country. But no collective feeling of hate. Never,” said one of them. While most of them sought the perpetrator to be punished, some said whoever did it needed to be counselled.
Alumni React with Shock
Reacting to the news with shock, ISI Kolkata alumnus and CPI(ML) Liberation leader Dipankar Bhattacharyya said, “Even the government did not seem to be sure if the Lal Qila blast was an accident or an act of terror, and here is an institution of higher education and research linking the blast to a religious community. I know ISI is having to fight for its own autonomy, but these are disturbing signs of decay of a reputed organisation. I hope the ISI community takes note and overcomes it before it is too late.”
Srijan Sengupta, another ex-student who is an associate professor of statistics at North Carolina State University, said, “I am deeply shocked and horrified to see these hateful words defacing the walls of the ISI boys’ hostel. To me, this incident is a tragic reflection of how divisive and toxic narratives circulating in society are seeping into the minds of the young and bright, those from whom we expect intellectual curiosity, empathy, and critical thought.”
Sengupta urged the authorities to “respond with both seriousness and sensitivity. While identifying those responsible is important and necessary, in my opinion, it is even more important to understand and address the social environment within the hostel that allowed such hatred to take root.”
The graffiti fiasco comes amidst a raging debate on the campus over the proposed ISI Bill, which has been seen by many as an attempt to curb the institute’s administrative and academic autonomy. On Wednesday, a meeting was held just outside the main gate of the campus in protest against the proposed Bill.
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