From removing a chapter on Mohammad Iqbal to dropping a paper on Economics of Discrimination; replacing the curriculum on Mahatma Gandhi with one on Savarkar in the undergraduate syllabus, the University of Delhi (DU) has been in “revision mode” for the past few months, revising syllabi for multiple courses for which it has faced considerable criticism from various quarters.
In May, the academic council of the university passed a motion to remove a chapter on Pakistan’s national poet Muhammad Iqbal, also known as Allama Iqbal, from a chapter titled ‘Modern Indian Political Thought’, which was part of BA Political Science sixth-semester syllabus.
Professors of Political Science and History at DU believe that Iqbal was never a threat to the national ideology and removing it from the syllabus after so many years is politically motivated.
The University of Delhi in a statement justified the decision to remove the unit on Iqbal saying that he had laid the foundation of partition of India and therefore should not be included in the syllabus.
According to the statement, the proposal was put forth by the Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh during the meeting.
Singh stated, “Instead of teaching such individuals, we should study our national heroes.”
Political Science professor at DU, Biswajit Mohanty said, “My analysis is that it was a part of a broad agenda. The chapter on Iqbal did not fit into the narrative of so-called ‘new nationalists’. Iqbal’s poetic value, multiplicity, and social identity were relevant and could have been retained. He was not a threat to the national ideology. He is being read extensively, even as a part of Punjabi Literature.”
The V-C had further said, “Savarkar was a freedom fighter. He sacrificed and suffered for all of us. He was held in Cellular Jail in Andaman where he faced grave atrocities. After 75 years of Independence, we express our respect by including his teachings in the paper on nationalism. Earlier, a proposal to remove Gandhi was not approved by the academic council. Now a chapter on Veer Savarkar has found a place as an elective in fifth semester while the chapter on Gandhi has been held for seventh semester.”
Critiques pointed out that this would mean that students opting for a three-year graduation course instead of a four-year will not get to study Gandhi.
The only organization which welcomed the development was the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
Other changes in syllabus
DU also proposed to drop an elective course on Dr B.R. Ambedkar from an UG course on Philosophy but the suggestion was met with strong opposition from the Department of Philosophy. Sources said that the suggestion was first made on May 8 and it was taken up in the curriculum meeting on May 12.
However, after much opposition, the academic council decided to retain it with few changes.
For instance, one of the changes proposed was replacing the word ‘Hindu’ by ‘Indian’ in a unit titled “Rise and Fall of Hindu Woman”.
The academic council also revised the History syllabi for the fourth and fifth semesters under the new Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP). A few of the changes include deletion of the words such as “brahminization” and “brahmanical”, removal of paper on “Inequality and Differences” that emphasized key issues across Indian history, such as ‘varna’, ‘jati’, class, caste, and gender.
Dean (South Campus) Prakash Singh, involved in the decision-making committee, said, “With constructive suggestions, there is now greater diversity and information.”
He also said that there was no dissent over the decision and the suggestions were given by the standing committee as well. In an academic council meeting held on August 11, Economics of Discrimination has been replaced by Economic Thought; Production Relations and Globalization stays with minor changes; Economy State and Society stays with a changed reading list.
DU’s academic council recorded their dissent against the methodology adopted to formulate the Economics syllabus without any consultation with the elected members. The paper in question was a four-credit course that deals with social discrimination, pertaining to race, caste, class, gender and disability, from an economic framework.
The paper was divided into four units: theories, concepts and measures of discrimination; caste discrimination and inequality; gender-based inequalities and discrimination in the economy; and affirmative action.
Syllabus review process: How it works
Explaining the syllabus review process, Dean (Academics) said that every course has a Committee of Course (CoC) which formulates the syllabi. After formulating and analyzing the syllabus, it is taken to the faculty-level committee which is responsible for examining the revisions, suggestions etc. After this, it is passed on to the standing committee on academic matters.
The standing committee is comprised of head of departments, academicians, deans and principals. The members of this committee look into the details of the particular course. A final decision or a plan is proposed. Once it gets approved then it is sent back to the faculty to incorporate the suggestions.
Dr AK Bhagi, a representative of Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) said, “Revision of syllabus is a continuous process in the university system. This is being done through the CoC and concerned faculties. Then, the recommendation reaches the standing committee of academic council and finally to academic council (comprising elected teachers, deans, principals, with a strength of 125) for its approval.”
“As per the arguments of the academic community, teaching Iqbal under ‘nationalism’ doesn’t fit. Same is true for ‘brahmanization’ proposed to be taught under Indian Tradition and Culture. A more appropriate term is ‘Vaishnavism’ and ‘Shakya’. There was never a proposal to remove Ambedkar; only to include more thinkers in philosophy syllabus,” he said.
He further added, “The paper Economics of Discrimination, related to racial forms of discrimination in the Indian context was proposed by the department but not considered by the council. An alternative paper called Economics of Ambedkar was proposed by the department itself and accepted.”
Nandita Narain, DUTA executive, said, “It’s a right-wing onslaught on our syllabi, where statutory bodies like CoC are being coerced or superseded to endorse non-academics. The academic council subcommittee for academic affairs has been deliberately filled with RSS-affiliated National Democratic Teachers’ Front members to push these changes without academic justification.”
Dean (Academics), Professor K. Ratnabali said, “It is a deliberation that is done after a consensus is formed. It is not an individual decision. After scrutinizing every detail, a decision is made based on the collective wisdom.”
Elected member of the council Mithuraj Dhusiya said, “Students need to study all perspectives to become informed citizens. Removal of texts/papers that have been prevalent for years is a gross injustice to students who are deprived of quality education.”
What changed in the syllabus
1. Chapter on Md. Iqbal dropped
In May, Academic Council passed a motion to remove a chapter on Pakistan’s national poet Muhammad Iqbal from the political science curriculum.
2. Paper on Gandhian Studies replaced
DU has replaced a paper on Mahatma Gandhi in BA Political Science fifth semester course with one on Hindutva ideologue V.D Savarkar.
3. ‘Brahmanical’ dropped from title
The term “Brahmanical” is removed from the title of a unit in fifth-semester paper Women in Indian History. The unit was earlier named Evolution of Patriarchy with a focus on “brahmanical patriarchy”.
4. Ambedkar move withdrawn
On May 8, suggestion to remove Ambedkar from a curriculum in philosophy; later retained with certain alterations. Changes proposed to replace the word “Hindu” by “Indian” in a unit Rise and Fall of Hindu Woman
5. Paper replaced for ba Economics
DU “dropped” a paper on the Economics of Discrimination from BA Economics. Replaced by Economics Thought
6. History chapter scrapped
Chapter on Inequality and Difference that emphasized on issues such as ‘varna’, ‘jati’, class, caste, and gender across Indian history.
Certain units, references were dropped from syllabus earlier as well
In September 21, a rights-wing teachers’ group endorsed the controversial changes made to the English syllabus of the fifth semester BA honours course of Delhi University and sought a “scan”
by DU administration of all syllabi to remove “demeaning” references.
This followed the move of the DU Oversight Committee to remove the works of two Dalit authors, Bama and Sukhirtharani, as well as renowned author Mahasweta Devi’s short story from the English syllabus.
The move sparked a stir and invited criticism from over 108 permanent English professors and 15 Academic Council members. Responding to it, the National Democratic Teachers’ Front, a teachers’ group backed by the BJP, had said that that a section of teachers in English department “exploited academic autonomy and freedom in an attempt to denigrate and demonise Hinduism.”
“‘Draupadi’, a story written in Bengali by Mahashweta Devi and translated into English by Gayatri
Spivak, had been taught in DU for many years. The very title of the story which revolves around humiliation of a tribal woman, is an insidious attempt to demean Hinduism. The contents of the story is replete with description of gory details of her private body parts, sexual innuendos, vulgar descriptions of sexual attacks on her, etc.,” the statement said.
The group denied that Dalit writers were being removed from the syllabus and that there was “a false presumption that HoDs of DU work under pressure of administration”.
The 108 teachers had issued a joint statement saying HoD Raj Kumar was “coerced” into approving the changes made to the syllabus.
Before that, in July, 2019, some modifications made by the English department of DU – by removing
riots and gods from the course – had led to the demand for more changes by the NDTF while some faculty members opposed the same.
On July 17, 2019, a decision was made to remove content on Muzaffarnagar and Gujarat riots and modify the course of “Interrogating Queerness”, as per the objections raised in the academic council meeting by the representatives of NDTF.
Saikat Ghosh, a member of the academic council, had issued a statement calling these required modifications “absurd” and said they were being “listed in order to make a mockery of the efforts of teachers (from approximately 50 DU colleges) who have worked hard for two years with the hope that DU will eventually be able to give its English students a syllabus that is genuinely at par with the best in the world.”
“The NDTF and ABVP may be successful in their nefarious agenda tomorrow because they are more powerful than the university. Academic arguments are not being heard. The University is following their diktats,” she had said.