Hateful slogans targeting different sections of the Hindu society were raised during recent protests held by Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students Association (BAPSA), a “student” organisation at the Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Videos of the protests have gone viral online, showing demonstrators, including JNUSU General Secretary Priyanshi Arya, chanting slogans against Brahmins, Baniyas, and Kshatriyas—prominent Hindu castes. The slogans not only called for violence against these communities but also dehumanized them, sparking widespread outrage.
One of the slogans chanted during the protest was, “Tilak, Tarazu aur Talwar, inko maro jute chaar. Brahmins are terrorists,” which carried a hateful message. Another video captured protesters shouting, “Brahmin, Baniya, Thakur Chor, baaki saare DS4 (Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti),” sparking debate on whether such slogans, which seemingly incite violence against a significant section of the population, fall under the protection of Freedom of Expression.
She's the JNU Student Union General Secretary, raising anti-Hindu/Brahmin slogans like "Tilak, Tarazu aur Talwar, inko maro jute chaar. Brahmine are terr*rists".
— Mr Sinha (@MrSinha_) March 15, 2025
This is clearly a call for violence against Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Baniyas etc Hindu community.
How long will we… pic.twitter.com/LboPRivXcK
The protests were reportedly organized due to internal differences between BAPSA and the All India Students Association (AISA), a left-wing student organization at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
Arya admitted in a post-protest interview that AISA and BAPSA had disagreements following which they had called for a meeting. Unable to resolve differences, Arya claimed one of the AISA members, who was a Thakur, passed unsavoury comments against her organisation, following which they launched a protest.
JNU छात्र नेता Priyanshi Arya ने बताया BAPSA के आंदोलन का कारण !! पूरा वीडियो नेशनल चौपाल Youtube पर @priyanshiaryaaa @BAPSA_JNU pic.twitter.com/pVsPgZnl6Y
— National Chaupal (@NationalChaupal) March 13, 2025
However, even when the differences were between two left-leaning organisations, BAPSA found a way to demonise Hindus instead of calling out the Maoist ideology underpinning AISA.
JNU—A bastion of Hinduphobia where slogans demonising Hindus are the order of the day
Notably, this is not the first time that JNU, a leftist bastion, is in the news for blatant Hinduphobia. For a long time now, aversion for Hindus has remained a potent glue to keep ideologically disparate elements in JNU together. Earlier in 2024, videos showing students shouting slogans like, “Mile Phule-Kanshi Ram, Hawa Mein Ud Gaye Jai Shri Ram” at the JNU had gone viral on the internet. Moreover, “Brahmanwad se azadi” (freedom from Brahminism) and “Free Palestine” slogans were also raised amidst the sounds of trumpets and Dhols.
It is pertinent to recall that in the 1990s (1993), when the SP-BSP allied against the BJP, supporters of both parties used to chant ‘Mile Mulayam-Kanshi Ram, Hawa Mein Ud Gaye Jai Shri Ram‘. As can be heard in the viral video, ‘Azadi‘ slogans were again chanted loudly in JNU. In addition, derogatory slogans were raised against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Notably, this is the same JNU where slogans like ‘Afzal, hum sharminda hain, tere qatil zinda hain‘ were chanted in support of the terrorists who attacked Parliament. Besides this, slogans such as ‘Bharat there tukde honge Inshallah Inshallah‘ were raised in the University.
