Delhi University has rejected the proposal to include the Manusmriti in its Bachelor of Laws syllabus, Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh said on Thursday, reported ANI.
The Manusmriti is a Hindu legal text authored by a medieval ascetic named Manu. It has been widely criticised for its gender and caste-based provisions.
Earlier on Thursday, media reports said that the Faculty of Law had proposed to introduce the literary works Manusmriti with the Manubhasya of Medhatithi by GN Jha and Commentary of Manu Smriti – Smritichandrika by T Kristnasawmi Iyer as suggested readings for undergraduate law students.
The proposal had triggered an uproar, with the Social Democratic Teachers Front, a collective of university teachers, writing to Singh. They told the vice chancellor that the introduction of any section or part of the Manusmriti is against the basic structure and principles of the Constitution.
Singh later said that a committee headed by him did not find the proposal “appropriate” and rejected it, reported PTI. “There are many other texts to teach [the] Indian knowledge tradition and we should not rely on any one text,” the vice chancellor told the news agency.
On Friday, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan also confirmed that the proposal had been rejected.
“We all are committed to our Constitution, to futuristic approach,” said Pradhan, reported ANI. “Government is committed to upholding the true spirit and letter of the Constitution.”
The minister said there was “no question of including any controversial portion of any script”.
Referring to the proposal, Delhi University Academic Council member Maya John had said that the effort to include the Manusmriti in the syllabus is “politically motivated” as the text lacks “academic merit”, reported The Indian Express.
The Congress had also criticised the move, with party leader Jairam Ramesh stating that it was “part of the salami tactics to bring fulfilment to the decades-long attempt by the RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh] to assault the Constitution and Dr Ambedkar’s legacy.”
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is the parent organisation of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Speaking to The Indian Express on Thursday, Professor Anju Vali Tikoo, the dean of Delhi University’s law faculty said that the Manusmriti was being added to the syllabus in line with the 2020 National Education Policy to “introduce Indian perspectives into learning”.
“The unit under which it has been introduced in itself is an analytical unit,” Tikoo said. “Hence, in order to bring in more perspective for the student to compare and understand analytical positivism, this step has been taken.”
Tikoo had chaired a meeting of the faculty’s course committee on June 24 where the proposal to teach the Manusmriti to law students was unanimously approved.
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