During the academic council meeting of Delhi University (DU) on Tuesday evening, tensions arise when the members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) entered the Viceregal Lodge protesting against English syllabus. There were shouting and sloganeering during the protest by the ABVP members. Meanwhile, the council has decided to allot the modification work of the disputed syllabus of English along with History to their respective departments.
Apart from the above subjects, syllabus of Sociology and Political Science were also sent back to the departments proposing for some minor changes. Furthermore, this was disputed by some of the members who have stated that the modification of Sociology and Political Science were sent because it was “spreading Leftist and Maoist ideology.”
Rasal Singh, member of right-wing teachers’ group in the Delhi University National said, “Democratic Teachers’ Front (NDTF). The university’s AC took serious cognizance of our logical and factual objections and asked departments to revise their syllabus. We have also asked for the resignation of the head of the English department.” Further, he also called the inclusion of the story an offence to “nationalistic ideology and an attack on the RSS” and informed that the major protest in the History syllabus was the “removal of Rajput history, Ambedkar and that of Sufi poet Amir Khusro.”
The meeting of the standing committee on academic matters that was held to discuss the changes in the UG courses on July 11 saw dislike over the addition of ‘Maniben alias Bibijan’ by Shilpa Palarkar – the story that was set during the Gujarat riots along with the papers on caste in literature and queerness in the English syllabus.
The AC Saikat Ghosh has said that despite the arguments, the discussions and proceedings were disrupted by the ABVP members protests and sloganeering, due to which the head of the department felt threatened.
However, the ABVP’s state minister Siddharth Yadav said it is unfortunate for those sitting in the academic council, who are doing politics in order to join the political agenda of the Left ideology syllabus. He also added that ABVP members did not indulge in any “violence” and were protesting peacefully.