Delhi University will not teach Manusmriti, says VC after text included in Sanskrit course

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The Manusmriti will not be taught at Delhi University 'in any form', its vice chancellor told The Indian Express on Thursday. The statement came days after the text was reportedly included in the reading list of a new undergraduate Sanskrit course at the university.
The Manusmriti is a Hindu scripture authored by a medieval ascetic named Manu. It has been widely criticised for its gender and caste-based provisions.
'We will not teach any part of Manusmriti in any form in the University of Delhi,' Yogesh Singh, the Delhi University vice chancellor, told the newspaper. 'This direction has been issued even earlier by the vice chancellor's office, and departments should adhere to it.'
Singh added that the Sanskrit department should not have included the text in the reading list in the first place in view of the earlier directives.
The department had listed the Manusmriti as one of the primary texts in the syllabus for a four-credit discipline-specific core course titled 'Dharmashastra Studies', according to The Indian Express.
A discipline-specific core course refers to a mandatory subject within a particular academic field that provides foundational knowledge and skills.
The reading list for the course also included Hindu religious texts such as the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Puranas and the Arthashastra, the newspaper reported.
In July 2024, Delhi University had rejected a proposal to include the Manusmriti in its Bachelor of Laws syllabus.
The Faculty of Law had proposed to introduce the literary works Manusmriti with the Manubhasya of Medhatithi by GN Jha and Commentary of Manu Smriti – Smritichandrika by T Kristnasawmi Iyer as suggested readings for undergraduate law students.
The proposal had triggered an uproar, with the Social Democratic Teachers Front, a collective of university teachers, writing to Singh. They told the vice chancellor that the introduction of any section or part of the Manusmriti is against the basic structure and principles of the Constitution.
Singh had later said that a committee headed by him did not find the proposal 'appropriate' and rejected it. 'There are many other texts to teach [the] Indian knowledge tradition and we should not rely on any one text,' the vice chancellor had said.