In this Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019 photo, a graffiti covers the wall of a building at Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi, India. Students of New Delhi's Jamia Millia Islamia University have turned the campus' sandstone walls into a canvas of discontent. The spray-painted slogans and symbols reflect their opposition to a new law that provides a path to citizenship for religious groups from neighboring countries except Muslims. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
The Associated Press
NEW DELHI (AP) - Students of New Delhi's Jamia Millia Islamia University have turned the campus' sandstone walls into a canvas of discontent.
The spray-painted slogans and symbols reflect their opposition to a new law that provides a path to citizenship for religious groups from neighboring countries except Muslims. The graffiti convey a message that the Indian government has tried to silence by blocking internet and phone services, detaining thousands of protesters and banning public gatherings.
Inside the campus, murals draw parallels between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist party's lotus symbol, and Adolf Hitler and the Nazi swastika. Some walls were scrawled with a clarion call to take the government head-on. A little farther, a warning reads, 'œBe safe police ahead.'ť
Police entered the campus on Sunday, firing tear gas and beating unarmed student protesters with wooden sticks. Dozens were injured.
The incident became a rallying point for student-led protests across India, sometimes resulting in violent clashes between police and demonstrators.
'œIt proves our point,'ť said S. Kashif, a student who was part of the group that scrawled the graffiti. 'œThey can break our bones but not our ideas.'ť
The graffiti and slogans that sprang up on the walls of the university were a spontaneous response to the law pushed through Parliament by the Modi government that offers naturalization for Hindu, Christian and other migrants who fled religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The law does not extend to Muslims.
Students say if the government won't hear their voices, the walls will talk.
'œWe did it because we felt the images and slogans will reflect the current debate about where the country is heading,'ť said Kashif, who compared the student-led protests with similar upheavals around the world.
Graffiti are also popping in other Indian universities, with students using a new visual vocabulary to express everything from calls to protest to outrage over sexual harassment.
'œWe want to make a statement,'ť said Shailly, 22. 'œNow people can either face it or ignore it.'ť
In this Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019 photo, a graffiti covers the wall of a building at Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi, India. Students of this New Delhi university have turned the campus' sandstone walls into a canvas of discontent. The spray-painted slogans and symbols reflect their opposition to a new law that provides a path to citizenship for religious groups from neighboring countries except Muslims. (AP Photo/Sheikh Saaliq)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019 photo, a graffiti covers the wall of a building at Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi, India. Students of this New Delhi university have turned the campus' sandstone walls into a canvas of discontent. The spray-painted slogans and symbols reflect their opposition to a new law that provides a path to citizenship for religious groups from neighboring countries except Muslims. (AP Photo/Sheikh Saaliq)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019 photo, a grafiti is spray painted on a wall at Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi, India. Students of this New Delhi university have turned the campus' sandstone walls into a canvas of discontent. The spray-painted slogans and symbols reflect their opposition to a new law that provides a path to citizenship for religious groups from neighboring countries except Muslims. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019 photo, a graffiti is spray painted on the wall of a building at Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi, India. Students of this New Delhi university have turned the campus' sandstone walls into a canvas of discontent. The spray-painted slogans and symbols reflect their opposition to a new law that provides a path to citizenship for religious groups from neighboring countries except Muslims. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019 photo, a grafiti lines a wall at Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi, India. Students of this New Delhi university have turned the campus' sandstone walls into a canvas of discontent. The spray-painted slogans and symbols reflect their opposition to a new law that provides a path to citizenship for religious groups from neighboring countries except Muslims. (AP Photo/Sheikh Saaliq)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019 photo, graffiti cover the walls of a building at Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi, India. Students of this New Delhi university have turned the campus' sandstone walls into a canvas of discontent. The spray-painted slogans and symbols reflect their opposition to a new law that provides a path to citizenship for religious groups from neighboring countries except Muslims. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019 photo, graffiti cover the wall of a building at Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi, India. Students of this New Delhi university have turned the campus' sandstone walls into a canvas of discontent. The spray-painted slogans and symbols reflect their opposition to a new law that provides a path to citizenship for religious groups from neighboring countries except Muslims. (AP Photo/Sheikh Saaliq)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019 photo, graffiti cover walls of a building at Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi, India. Students of this New Delhi university have turned the campus' sandstone walls into a canvas of discontent. The spray-painted slogans and symbols reflect their opposition to a new law that provides a path to citizenship for religious groups from neighboring countries except Muslims. (AP Photo/Sheikh Saaliq)
The Associated Press
In this Monday, Dec. 16, 2019, photo, a graffiti against the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Citizens Amendment is spray painted on the walls of the library at Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi, India. Students of this New Delhi university have turned the campus' sandstone walls into a canvas of discontent. The spray-painted slogans and symbols reflect their opposition to a new law that provides a path to citizenship for religious groups from neighboring countries except Muslims. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
The Associated Press
In this Monday, Dec.16, 2019, file photo, a man walks past a graffiti on the library wall that reads "We are the ashes covered in blood, we are the nation's today," at Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi, India. Students of this New Delhi university have turned the campus' sandstone walls into a canvas of discontent. The spray-painted slogans and symbols reflect their opposition to a new law that provides a path to citizenship for religious groups from neighboring countries except Muslims. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019 photo, a graffiti is spray painted on a wall at Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi, India. Students of this New Delhi university have turned the campus' sandstone walls into a canvas of discontent. The spray-painted slogans and symbols reflect their opposition to a new law that provides a path to citizenship for religious groups from neighboring countries except Muslims. (AP Photo/Sheikh Saaliq)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019 photo, graffiti against the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Citizens Amendment Act are seen spray painted on a wall at Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi, India. Students of this New Delhi university have turned the campus' sandstone walls into a canvas of discontent. The spray-painted slogans and symbols reflect their opposition to a new law that provides a path to citizenship for religious groups from neighboring countries except Muslims. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019 photo, a graffiti purportedly spray painted by students equates the Nazi swastika symbol with the symbol of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is seen on a wall at Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi, India. Students of this New Delhi university have turned the campus' sandstone walls into a canvas of discontent. The spray-painted slogans and symbols reflect their opposition to a new law that provides a path to citizenship for religious groups from neighboring countries except Muslims. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
The Associated Press