DU Adds New Savarkar Course to BA Pol Science Program; Check Details Here

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Teachers at DU protested against changing the syllabus where they alleged that the paper on Mahatma Gandhi in the fifth semester of the BA (Hons) political science syllabus has been replaced with a paper on Hindutva ideology V D Savarkar.

DU Adds New Savarkar Course to BA Pol Science Program

New Delhi: Delhi University has come up with a decision of changing the fifth-semester syllabus with a new elective program. DU Administration will add a Savarkar-focused elective to the BA Political Science program which leads a wave of protests among certain faculty members. One of the academic council members stated that ‘ Earlier a paper on Gandhi was there in the fifth and in the sixth semester was on Ambedkar.

With this, Delhi University has decided to introduce Savarkar who was an Indian independence activist, poet, writer, and politician. He played a significant role in India's struggle for independence from British rule, but his legacy is marred by controversies surrounding his ideology, particularly on issues such as Hindu nationalism and his alleged connections to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

University has come up with an idea to remove the paper on Gandhi from studies as students who will be admitted for a three-year program will not study this quarter. The committee has also put forward a proposal where it stated that the University will teach about Gandhi in Semester V, Savarkar in Semester VI, and Ambedkar in VII.

Overall the University here wants students to focus on Gandhi in the initial semesters in order to develop critical thinking. With the New National Education Policy, the university has adopted a four-year program where students will have the choice to opt for a three-year UG program or a four-year UG program.

The primary purpose of higher education is to foster critical thinking, open-mindedness, and the ability to engage with diverse perspectives. While studying contentious historical figures and ideologies is essential, it is equally important to ensure that the curriculum presents a balanced and nuanced view.

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