Delhi University Student Smears Cow Dung on Principal’s Office in Protest
Ronak Khatri targets Lakshmibai College head over classroom coating experiment without student consent
A heated row erupted at Delhi University’s Lakshmibai College on Tuesday after DUSU president Ronak Khatri smeared cow dung on the office walls of Principal Pratyush Vatsala in protest against her controversial classroom experiment.
The act, captured on video, shows Khatri wearing gloves and applying cow dung slurry to the principal's office, saying it was to give her “a taste of her own medicine.” He alleged that the principal had coated classroom walls with cow dung as part of a research initiative without consulting students. “If you want to do research, do it at your home,” he told reporters.
On social media, Khatri justified the move, claiming it was a symbolic extension of Vatsala’s project. “We took her campaign forward by applying cow dung in her room along with the student power,” he posted on X.
Speaking to ANI, he accused Vatsala of turning the college into an “experiment lab” without student consent. “Her own room is not in this condition,” he said, questioning the selective implementation of the project. He also urged the Ministry of Education to install air conditioners in classrooms instead of resorting to “ancient traditions.”
The controversy began when a video surfaced of Principal Vatsala supervising the application of cow dung on classroom walls. Defending the move, she explained it was part of a research project titled ‘Study of Heat Stress Control by Using Traditional Indian Knowledge’. “These are some ‘desi’ efforts to ensure comfort in rooms that are structurally neglected,” she said, noting the project was faculty-led and based on earlier research on cow dung’s insulating properties.
With the issue going viral, it has sparked debates on tradition, student consent, and infrastructure in public institutions.
