Read Time: 05 minutes

Synopsis

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced on Friday that the proposal to include Manusmriti in the Delhi University’s (DU) Undergraduate law course was rejected by the Vice-Chancellor. He emphasised that there was no endorsement of any such plan.

Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh in his press statement said, "The Delhi University received a proposal from the Faculty of Law suggesting changes to some courses. The two suggested texts and the amendment have been rejected by the University and will not be taught.”

The proposal, which was unanimously approved by the department’s Committee of Courses in June, suggested incorporating "Manusmriti With The Manubhasya of Medhatithi" by G.N. Jha and "Commentary of Manu Smriti - Smritichandrika" by T. Kristnasawmi Iyer into the Jurisprudence I and II courses. The amendments were scheduled for review in the Academic Council meeting on Friday. However, it quickly stirred controversy within the academic community. Several faculty members criticised the amendments as “politically motivated” and “unnecessary.”

Dr. Amrendra Kumar Ajit, Assistant Professor of Law at DU’s Faculty of Law, shared his perspective with Lawbeat : "We used to teach historical development in many law papers; now an exercise is happening to ensure there is an Indian historical perspective too. This is not only happening in DU but in many universities. Manusmriti can't be introduced as an independent subject, but principles of ancient Indian texts may get a place in different law subjects, just like we use legal maxims.”

On whether the text should be introduced in the curriculum, he expressed, "In my personal opinion, it should be. Indian philosophy is much older than Western."

Adding to the controversy, the Social Democratic Teachers Front had expressed strong objections in a letter to the Vice-Chancellor, stating, "It has come to our knowledge that Manusmriti has been recommended to the students as 'suggested readings' which is highly objectionable as this text is adverse to the progress and education of women and marginalized communities."

The letter further emphasised, "In the country, 85 percent of the population belongs to the marginalized and 50 percent of the population is women. Their progress depends on a progressive education system and teaching pedagogy, not regressive. In Manusmriti, in several sections, it opposed women’s education and equal rights. Introduction of any section or part of Manusmriti is against the basic structure of our Constitution and principles of Indian Constitution."

Amidst these objections, the Vice-Chancellor exercised his authority, as empowered by the University Act and rejected the proposal.