The University of Delhi is facing heavy criticism from all sections of the academia after its Oversight Committee decided to make some fundamental changes in the BA English (Honours) syllabus. The committee has removed literary pieces by two Dalit authors — celebrated author and Padma Vibhushan Mahasweta Devi's short story on a tribal woman and along with feminist and queer literature.
Dalit authors and Mahasweta Devi replaced
The committee removed the works of two Dalit authors — Bama and Sukartharini — from the core course Women’s Writing which is taught in the fifth semester. The text was replaced by an upper-caste writer Ramabai, said dissenting Academic Council members. "The committee, as an afterthought, suddenly asked the English Department to delete the celebrated short story of Mahasweta Devi — Draupadi — a story about a tribal woman. This was done without giving any academic logic to the decision. This is notwithstanding the fact that Draupadi has been taught by the University of Delhi since 1999 owing to its seminal academic value and also figures in the UGC model syllabus 2019 for BA English (Honours). Moreover, the committee refused to accept any short story by Mahasweta Devi despite her iconic status globally as a writer and being a winner of Sahitya Akademi Award, Jnanpith Award and Padma Vibhushan from the Government of India," said the teachers.
The professors also said that the Oversight Committee forced the Department of English to include a short story from a list of six which "came from nowhere and were not recommended by the syllabus committee or the Committee of Courses of the department". When the teachers of the department refused to accept the committee's decision calling it unreasonable, the Oversight Committee imposed one of the short stories Sultana’s Dreams by Begum Rokeya as a replacement for Draupadi. "The shoddiness of the exercise is evident from the fact that while the revised short story figures in the list of primary readings, the section on teaching plan still show Mahasweta Devi’s story," read a letter of dissent presented by the professors. The acting VC reportedly said that their dissent has been recorded but the resolution was passed anyway.
Feminist Queer voices muted
But the revamp does not stop here. In a paper titled Pre-colonial Indian Literature, the committee asked the department to replace Chandrabati Ramayana, a feminist reading of Ramayana, with Tulsidas's version. In another DSE paper Interrogating Queerness, the committee has deleted sections from the units which the teachers said will reduce the "academic rigour of the paper".
The professors said that it is unfortunate that the Oversight Committee has "always shown a prejudice against the representation of Dalits, tribals, women and sexual minorities as is evident in its concerted efforts to remove all such voices from the syllabus". "It is shocking to note that this Oversight Committee did not have any experts from the concerned departments whose syllabus was changed. There is no logic behind such removals," said Mithuraaj Dhusiya, who teaches English at the varsity and is an AC member as well.
