DU: Dissent in AC after 2 Dalit authors, Mahasweta Devi go from Eng syllabus

New Delhi: After approving the implementation of the New Education Policy at the Delhi University from 2022-23 amid a strong dissent, the Academic Council of the varsity, met on Wednesday, during which several members submitted a dissent note after the Oversight Committee allegedly dropped texts by renowned author Mahasweta Devi and two Dalit authors from the English Syllabus, triggering 15 members of the AC to submit the note.

According to reports, the dissent note was against the Oversight Committee and its general functioning, with many professors publicly saying that there was no academic justification for dropping these authors from the syllabus. The reports added that the dissenting AC members had said there was "maximum vandalism" in the LOCF of the English syllabus of Semester V.

According to the dissent note, the OC first removed Dalit authors — Bama and Sukhartarini — only to replace their texts with that of Ramabai, whom they referred to as "upper caste". It added that Mahasweta Devi's short story Draupadi, about a tribal woman — part of the English syllabus at DU since 1999 - was also removed by the OC without offering any academic justification.

The dissenting members of the AC went on to say that the Oversight Committee also refused to accept any text by Mahasweta Devi despite her laurels, awards, and acclaim.

In addition, the AC members went on to accuse the Oversight Committee of removing sections from the units of a paper titled "interrogating Queerness" at the expense of what they called the academic rigour of the Discipline Specific Elective paper.

As for the functioning of the Oversight Committee, the dissenting AC members pointed out that such changes were being made without consulting the respective departments' syllabus committees or the Committee on Courses.

"The only authority which can decide on courses is the Committee of Courses, which then gets approval from Faculties, Standing Committee and AC. The OC has no such authority. They also delay notifying the syllabus for each semester, usually 4-7 weeks after the classes begin. We had given them the LOCF syllabus for Semester VI too, but they have still notified it," AC member and History professor at Moti Lal Evening College told The Indian Express, where details of the dissent note were first made public.