7 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Chapters on Pakistan, China, Islam to be reworked as part of Delhi University syllabi rejig
NEW DELHI: A Standing Committee meeting of Delhi University held to review postgraduate syllabi across multiple departments on Wednesday kicked off a debate after several courses were either altered or dropped altogether, prompting concerns about academic freedom and the narrowing of pedagogical scope.
While scrutinising the Geography syllabus, the committee recommended the removal of Unit 3—'Internal Conflicts and Problems of Nation Building'—from the Discipline Specific Elective (DSE) course Territorial Bases of Politics in India (Semester 1). The Social Geography DSE course (Semester 2) also faced objections, with the Chair advising caste-related topics, particularly the unit on 'Distribution of SC Population,' be de-emphasised, calling them 'controversial.' The DSE course on Vulnerability and Disaster was scrapped entirely.
In Urban Sociology, violence-focused units were flagged for removal—including work on Muharram processions in Mumbai, caste and nationalism in Chennai, and Dalit religion and resistance.
