NEW DELHI: After the Manusmriti appeared on the reading list of a new undergraduate Sanskrit course at DU this month, Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh asserted on Thursday that the text will not be taught at the institution “in any form”.
“The ‘Dharmashastra Studies’ course, a Discipline-Specific Core (DSC) paper of the Sanskrit Department, in which Manusmriti was listed as a recommended reading, stands deleted,” the University stated.
The University of Delhi on Thursday posted on X, saying, “University of Delhi will not teach Manusmriti text in any course of the University. ‘Dharamshastra Studies’, the DSC of the Sanskrit Department, where Manusmriti is mentioned as a ‘recommended reading’ stands deleted.” The post tagged the Prime Minister and the Education Minister.
The book was part of a four-credit course titled Dharamshastra Studies in the Undergraduate Curriculum Framework, contextualized as part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The course also included texts such as the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Puranas, and Arthashastra.
This is not the first time that individuals have protested against the Manusmriti at DU. The suggestion to add it to the undergraduate History (Honours) course was withdrawn in July last year amidst protests.
The Manusmriti has been criticized by numerous instructors and student groups for its gender and caste regulations. Its presence within any curriculum is often interpreted as a means of advancing outdated ideology. Its reinstatement this year sparked fresh protests and calls for greater oversight of how university courses are developed. The proposal had been initiated by the History Department’s Joint Committee of Courses on February 19, 2025. Opposing the move, several professors wrote to the Vice-Chancellor, with some objecting to teaching the text altogether, while others noted the proposal lacked a “critical perspective”.