IN NEW DU POLITICAL SCIENCE SYLLABUS, PAPER ON SAVARKAR PRECEDES GANDHI

NEW DELHI: In the latest syllabi changes incorporated in BA political science at Delhi University during the Academic Council (AC) meeting held on Friday, the varsity included a section on Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar for the fifth semester, while readings on Mahatma Gandhi have been moved to the seventh semester, according to a statement by DU on Saturday. This is the first time Savarkar has been included in the political science syllabus at DU.

“Earlier, Savarkar was not part of the syllabus, whereas Gandhi was taught in the fifth semester. Now, DU has included Savarkar in the fifth semester, Ambedkar in the sixth, and Gandhi in the seventh. While we have no objection to Savarkar being introduced, he should not be taught before Gandhi,” said Alok Ranjan Pandey, a member of the council.

HT reported on Saturday that the reading on poet Muhammad Iqbal was removed from the BA political science syllabus.

During the AC meeting on Friday, DU vice-chancellor Yogesh Singh said, “Those who laid the foundation to break India have no place being a part of the syllabus.”

There was dissent on the removal of Iqbal from the syllabus, with some AC members arguing that he had contributed to India through the popular song “Sare Jahan Se Acha”.

Iqbal was one of the prominent Urdu and Persian poets of the subcontinent and is considered one of the architects of the idea of Pakistan. He was also the poet laureate of Pakistan.

The AC meeting proposals will require a final stamp of approval from the university’s executive council (EC), which is scheduled to meet next on June 9.